Deaf boy hears live music for first time at Dallas Mavericks game
DALLAS -- It was an incredible, breakthrough moment for one North Texas family at Tuesday night's Dallas Mavericks game as their deaf son heard and understood live music for the first time in his life, CBS DFW reports. After the Mavericks won, 4-year-old Jace Lee was not thinking about victory.
"When we were walking out of the suite, he gave a real big, 'whoa.' You know, what's that?" said Cody Lee, his father.
Cody and Brenda Lee could hardly hold their son back.
"He tapped on his processor and he signed, 'where, where is the sound?'" said Brenda Lee, the boy's mother.
The family raced down to the lower level to find the drumline. It only took a few seconds for Jace to understand what was happening.
"You know, people do take certain things for granted. You don't think about it. You wake up and you hear stuff. It's not the same way for him," said Brenda Lee.
Jace, who is deaf, lost his hearing at a young age and only recently began to catch glimpses of loud sounds with the help of a cochlear implant. The drums on Tuesday were some of just a few sounds he has ever heard.
"It's just really great to see something that normally everybody else gets to experience with their kids. You know, hearing 'mom' and all that stuff. We didn't get that," said Brenda Lee.
Mavs drummer Todd Jackson remembers Jace but was unaware of the gravity of the moment.
"It's still blowing me away," said Jackson. "Just the fact that, you think about your youngest days and how young you can think of something and this is going to be one of those moments for him."
Jackson said it goes beyond just hearing music.
"He felt it. He felt it," said Jackson. "You can see him thinking and see him processing it. He walked right up and got right in."
Cody and Brenda Lee are starting to realize they might have a future drummer in their family thanks to that one unforgettable moment.
"If he wants a drum set, I'll buy it," said Cody Lee, laughing. "I might regret it."
