naRADa 🤟🏾✨ on Instagram: “I would like to use this moment to thank those who helped me lately with my struggles as a #deaf person. BUT we need to change this system. When my sling bag was stolen in September, I lost my #CochlearImplant spare batteries. I was left with my old rechargeable battery that had bad battery life (The black one with glow in the dark tape in the video). My wonderful HoH friends came forward selflessly to help me. ✊🏾 Audiologist MH from St. Paul’s Hospital (SPH) quickly sent me batteries and chargers by overnight mail. NL and CB gave me disposable batteries (Like small batteries in the photo), so I don’t have to spend for them. NL told my friend BT about what happened, and he got me two rechargable batteries and mailed them to me!! (Two brown ones on the bottom of the video - Each costs approx ~$250). Thanks to these wonderful humans from the community, I was able to use my implants with less worries and continue doing so. 🥰 Come November, my 5.5yrs old Nucleus 7 processor started having sudden shut-offs and bootloop issues. I was able to use a loaner processor from SPH (Shown in the beginning of video) and get a new processor upgrade. Despite supply chain delays, MGL from Union Hearing Aids managed to send it before Christmas. 👏🏾 Most of the cost of this ~$10,000 processor is covered by our healthcare. But patients still need to pay a portion out of their pocket, through insurance, disability support, WorkBC etc. I were supposed to pay $840, which is a large amount for a long-term unemployed person. But my two Ammas (mothers), mom and aunt, offered to cover for it. I am super thankful to them for this Christmas miracle. 💕 But honestly... Why does being disabled have to be this expensive? Plus... • Many private insurance companies are hesitant to cover for #HearingAids and CI costs. • Most employers don’t offer more than $500 for health spending. • HAs and CIs should be fully covered by healthcare. NHS in UK provides free HAs. Not everyone has the privileges I have. So, This... Has... To... Change!!! (Continued on comment)”