Hometown: Canal Winchester, OH
Age on Race Day: 8
Diagnosis: Sensorineural Hearing Loss
When Luca was born, he underwent the standard newborn screening, a required series of tests that aim to identify and diagnose conditions early on, enabling prompt treatment and preventing long-term health problems. All of his tests came back normal except for one. Luca failed his hearing test, but doctors reassured his parents, Lisa and Tyler, that it was likely just fluid in his ears and began additional testing to rule out other concerns.
As he continued to fail more tests, however, Lisa and Tyler grew worried. No one in their family had any known hearing loss.
It wasn’t until Luca underwent an MRI that the reason for his hearing loss became clear. Luca has enlarged vestibular aqueducts, structural abnormalities of the inner ear where the vestibular aqueduct, a bony canal that connects the inner ear to the brain, is wider than normal. An enlarged vestibular aqueduct also meant that Luca’s hearing loss was progressive and would worsen over time.
At 10 months old, Luca was fitted with his first hearing aid, then, around one year later, he was fitted with his second. Eventually, doctors replaced one of his hearing aids with a cochlear implant. They expect to replace the other hearing aid with a second implant in the future.
Luca has also worked with speech therapists for more than six years. Their support has played a key role in his accomplishments.
“Our speech therapists have been like family to us,” shares Lisa. “We owe so much of Luca’s success to his team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.”
