In late March, an adorable three-year-old Capetonian girl started to appear on social media. Her name is Elle, and she needed our help.
Elle’s parents, Abigail and Ryan Ardendse started an Instagram page for their little girl, and the name itself was a call to the cause and to human kindness, @give_elle_the_gift_of_hearing.
Elle’s story
Elle was born with a bilateral, moderate to severe hearing loss. At just 5 months old she was fitted with hearing aids. However, over time, her hearing ability had weakened. This meant that she missed out on a lot of speech sounds, resulting in communication struggles, which would only worsen. You can read more about her story here.
Imagine as a child, not being able to hear the warmth of your parent’s voices, the hums of soft lullabies, the laughter of your family, or hearing songs that for the rest of your life will serve as time capsules, taking you back to a simpler time?
Capetonians, South Africans and some kind-hearted souls from overseas all agreed that Elle was not going to be left without hearing. Hearing should not be a luxury. People responded to the call for human kindness and help in fundraising efforts in amazing ways. The hearing devices that would not only help Elle hear but improve her speech too, are cochlear implants. While her parents said they’d be able to cover the surgery, the cochlear device costs a fortune of R300 000, which they just couldn’t afford. Instead, they turned to social media and @backabuddy as platforms for help.
From cyclists to marathon runners and donations from all over, the support for Elle’s hearing dream was nothing short of inspiring.
“To know that so many people were supporting us really warmed our hearts. It showed us that there are good people in this world. Some that will go out of their way for you and support you with their last,” said Abigail Ardense (IOL).
The man who cycled 200km for Elle
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The brilliant woman who ran the Two Oceans Marathon route for Elle
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The fundraising journey
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All the efforts truly paid off and Elle went for her miracle surgery at Mediclinic Cape Gate on Monday!
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Before the surgery, Elle said goodbye to her hearing aids, which had served her well.
And so to the cynics who believe that small acts do not make great differences, remember these words and the story of Elle.
“No matter what you do, it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean,” said one man to the other.
And the second man responded, “What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?”
(Cloud Atlas)
Picture: @give_elle_the_gift_of_hearing