Braddock mayor gifted with hearing aids: 'A miracle'

BRADDOCK, Pa. (KDKA) -- From cars to loud radios and earphones, Americans are losing their hearing. For many, hearing aids are out of the question due to cost. One local audiology clinic, however, is doing something about it by awarding a handful of people with hearing aids. 

Braddock is a place of sights and sounds, from busy streets to the booming industrial sounds of the steel industry. For Braddock Mayor Delia Lennon-Winstead, she can see well. It's the sound part that's a problem.

"Just last month at a council meeting I was like -- I couldn't hear. I just couldn't hear what everyone was saying," Lennon-Winstead said.

Suffering from poor hearing since her teens, Lennon-Winstead recently heard about a program from HearingLife that awarded hearing aids to those nominated by the hearing clinic's staff.

"When you put hearing aids in somebody's ears and they hear again for the first time, it's always shocking to people about how much they're missing," Stephanie Wissinger with HearingLife said. 

Working with Lennon-Winstead, Wissinger administered various audio tests to see what was needed.

KDKA-TV was there when the mayor got what she wanted for so long.

"That was great. I could hear them chatting outside through the door," she said.

According to both the World Health Organization and the Hearing Loss Association of America, 48 million Americans have significant hearing loss, with 33 percent experiencing hearing loss by 65.

"People who have hearing loss are more likely to have anxiety and depression," Wissinger said.

But for Lennon-Winstead, Tuesday was not a day for either of those things.

"Like a miracle, really, to tell you the truth. This is a miracle that has happened. The blessing of the Lord has fell upon me and I am so grateful."