Chelyabinsk rallies for barista's hearing aid
To earn money for a hearing aid part, Nadya took extra shifts.
A month before New Year«s, a story similar to a miracle from Father Frost happened in Chelyabinsk. But the magicians turned out to be ordinary city residents.
24-year-old Nadya has been working at the Mister Bean coffee chain since August; she is hearing-impaired. At one and a half years old, the girl fell seriously ill with the flu, and complications began. But thanks to the efforts of her mother, a teacher (speech therapy sessions didn»t yield results), Nadya now differs little from healthy people. A modern hearing aid helps her, among other things. This year, one of its parts broke down. For the needed part, which costs 50,000 rubles (about $500 at current rates), the girl decided to save from tips. At first, the amount accumulated slowly, but then a customer at the coffee shop noticed Nadya«s story. She shared it on social media, and the problem was solved in a couple of hours.
Meeting that garnered thousands of views
The coffee shop where Nadya works is on the corner of Ternopilskaya and Vitebskaya streets. But the meeting, after which the story about the girl spread on social media, happened on 20 November at the Mister Bean branch on Aloe Pole. Nadya took an extra shift there on her day off to earn more — every month she was setting aside money for the hearing aid part. Olga Dubrovskaya came into the coffee shop with her boyfriend — a former television journalist, now an entrepreneur. The unusual request for tips immediately touched her heart.
Olga was moved by the unique plea for help written on a tip cup.
«I transferred 1,500 rubles (about $15 at current rates) to her, then Danil 1,500. She was very surprised, thanked us, and told her story. She doesn»t have a hearing aid, but something more complex. One part is implanted in the ear, the second is on the ear. And in the inner ear, one part is short-circuiting. It needs to be replaced, and there are no quotas. Nadya works and saves. In a year, she collected 15,000 rubles (about $150 at current rates), but needs 50,000. We talked with her. Then we went outside, I turned around and through the large window of the coffee shop, I saw Nadya sit under the table and cry,« wrote Olga Dubrovskaya on her social media.
The post about Nadya quickly spread through entrepreneurs« chats, some of Olga»s friends copied the text and published it on their pages.
«The story is amazing. In two hours, they collected the needed amount for her. They even transferred money from the USA, my acquaintance responded. Nadya is very modest, she didn»t expect such a reaction. But I didn«t remove the post about her. I explained to her: if people want to help, then it must be so,» explained Olga Dubrovskaya to 74.RU. «Now there are many stories where help is needed, but not all find such a response.»
«I Don»t Know How to Stop This«
The day after the social media post, Nadya went to her regular workplace, the coffee shop in the »White Market« area. Our question about the fundraising for the hearing aid very embarrassed the girl. She didn»t expect that one post from a guest would have such an effect.
«I woke up today and saw that a lot of transfers came in overnight. Moreover, there are small amounts, 100–200 rubles. The amount for the needed part for the speech processor is already there. I»m very pleased, and honestly, I don«t know how to stop this,» the girl shared.
Nadya is a student who works part-time at a coffee shop.
Nadya is 24 years old, she studies design at South Ural State University (YuUrGU). In the future, she wants to work with wood — making exclusive furniture in her own workshop, fashionable tables covered with epoxy resin. For now, she got a job at a coffee shop to not depend on her mother. She speaks of her with incredible warmth. After all, it was her mother who brought her daughter, who lost her hearing, back into the world of sounds.
When Nadya was one and a half years old, she had the flu. The illness affected her ability to hear and speak. She was diagnosed with third-degree hearing loss (the most serious is fourth, after which comes complete deafness. — Ed.).
«I attended a regular kindergarten, but was a silent child. I tried to speak, but it didn»t go very well. All sounds were as if under water. We went to a speech therapist, but there was little effect. And then my mother, who is a teacher, took it upon herself. We sat for a long time and read, learned to pronounce individual syllables: re-ra-ru and so on,« Nadya recounts.
Before starting school, the girl underwent cochlear implantation. The operation allows solving problems with speech and hearing.
Cochlear implantation is a surgical operation that restores hearing in cases of profound hearing loss, replacing damaged hair cells in the inner ear with a system of electrodes. After the operation, a complex of auditory-speech rehabilitation is conducted, including sessions with a speech therapist and a deaf educator, which allows the person to perceive sounds and speech. This is a high-tech method that can significantly improve the quality of life for patients with deafness and severe sensorineural hearing loss.
In the future, Nadya dreams of becoming a carpenter and making exclusive furniture.
This operation only needs to be done once in a lifetime, but the mechanism that the patient attaches to the ear needs to be changed every seven years. It is provided by the state. For Nadya, it unexpectedly broke down ahead of schedule.
«It»s a speech processor, it started malfunctioning after two years of use. Several times a day, it happens that it turns off, and I lose the ability to hear. It«s inconvenient when it happens during a shift. I have to take it off, check it, change the battery. It»s like a phone charger that over time stops charging properly, and you wrap it with tape, change its position so that the current flows,« explained the coffee shop employee.
With the collected money, she has already ordered the needed part for her hearing aid. A bit later, Nadya will choose who will handle the installation.
Anyway, we return to the topic of the money collection. The tip jar still stands at the cash register. On it, Nadya»s number is written, a kitten«s face is drawn, but the wording has changed.
The current fundraising aim is modestly stated as being for good spirits.
«I»ve become so used to devaluing myself with this problem, and it seems to me that it«s not all that serious and bad with this problem,» says the barista. «I»m used to living with it. I do hear, I speak, I feel like a full-fledged person. I even feel kind of ashamed that so many other people are helping me and still sending money, even though the needed amount has already been collected.«
