Deaf girl hears after breakthrough gene therapy treatment: Here's what we know

Miracles happen every day, everywhere, in scenarios we can hardly imagine.

Although human life has become so complex that we remain entangled in our daily struggles, we often fail to notice how nature responds.

When it does, it communicates in its own unique way, often labeled as “miracles.” The same thing happened with a family who lives in Eynsham, England.

The 3-year-old daughter of a couple based in the UK, who underwent a breakthrough gene therapy treatment to treat hearing impairment can hear on her own, just two years after the treatment.

In 2023, 11-month-old Opal Sandy became the world’s youngest patient to receive a gene therapy injection in her right ear, a groundbreaking treatment for her congenital deafness caused by mutations in the OTOF gene, an inherited condition.

The gene therapy treatment, a 15 minute procedure during which Opal was administered anesthesia, a functional copy of the OTOF gene delivered to Opal’s right cochlea, the spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear.

During the same procedure in the United Kingdom, where Opal’s family lives, doctors inserted a cochlear implant in her left ear.

Two years after the procedure, the proud parents of Opal say , their 3-year-old daughter can now hear normally, even when the cochlear implant on her left ear is turned off.

Opal’s parents appeared on ABC 's Good Morning America where Jo Sandy, Opal's mom, said, “The transformation she has seen in her daughter’s ability to hear is mind blowing.”

Opal’s procedure was conducted as part of a clinical trial for DB-OTO gene therapy, involving patients in Spain, Germany, the U.K., and the United States.