Deaf Florida student Elizabeth Melaugh was lucky enough to win her $5000 hearing aids in a raffle earlier this year, but she has now lost them after being robbed (of just $3) at gunpoint, with the thieves making off with her purse, which had the hearing aids inside.
Extract:
Melaugh won her $5,000 hearing aids in a raffle earlier this year. They replaced her old, outdated hearing aid, which was all she could afford after several expensive surgeries.
She had just started school and was walking home down Renault Drive near 103rd St. and Ricker Rd. from her first day on the job on October 25 when a car with three men in it pulled up next to her and one of them jumped out.
“He just pointed the gun in my face, grabbed my purse off my shoulder, ran back in the car and then they backed off so I couldn’t see the license plate. The most vivid image in my mind is me staring down the barrel of that gun.”
The thieves got away with just $3 and her student ID, which was later recovered at a nearby bank, but more valuable than anything were her hearing aids, which were also inside the purse.
“My hearing aids are very expensive, but they are of no value to anyone else. They’re priceless to me and I need to get those returned.”
Hours after the robbery, Melaugh drew a sketch of the man who robbed her and has been posting it in storefront windows across the Westside.
“Eventually, you’re going to get caught,” she says.
Read more here: http://www.wokv.com/news/news/local/thief-steals-deaf-womans-hearing-aids-westside/nbhg3/
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Robert Mandara
November 7, 2013
What’s the world coming to when people need to win raffles in order to get hearing aids?!
Moreover, if the hearing aids were so esssential to this girl, why on earth weren’t they sitting on her ears rather than in her handbag?
Editor
November 7, 2013
That’s a very unsympathetic response Robert! She might have been keeping them dry, if it was raining? Or she might have been taking a sound-break 😉
Robert Mandara
November 7, 2013
My lack of sympathy stems from the stupidity of the story. I mean, what are the chances of anyone a) winning hearing aids in a raffle and b) finding that they match to their hearing loss?
If the girl really needs hearing aids then of course I hope that they will be found or swiftly replaced.
Editor
November 7, 2013
I would presume that the prize came with the chance to have them adjusted for a person’s hearing loss – otherwise the prize would be pretty much the worst prize ever seen!
Dan Schwartz, Editor, The Hearing Blog
November 7, 2013
There’s a good chance her hearing aids have factory loss & damage coverage as part of the warranty: She needs to contact the dispenser who fit her.
Also, I agree 100% with Robert Mandera: She should have been wearing her hearing aids while outdoors, for safety reasons due to environmental awareness. Modern hearing aids (at least the ones sold in America) have nanocoating, and are pretty well resistant to rain showers (that is, if it was raining).
Editor
November 7, 2013
Fact is, loads of deaf people take their hearing aids off, I’ve done so on public transport because of the noise, for example. It seems unfair to say that deaf people should wear them so they’re aware of their environment – we have eyes, don’t we?
I would say that in a noisy environment not wearing them can actually make a hearing aid user more aware of their environment, by getting rid of what can be an unsettling and chaotic sound (in a crowded bar, for example). Again, that’s what I’ve found.
The other times I wouldn’t wear them are when I’m with deaf friends, using sign language. There’s no need for sound in that situation.
Regarding the warranty, I think she’d need to show that damage in order to be able to claim any replacement parts/hearing aid. Since they’re stolen it seems unlikely she’d be able to claim, I would imagine.
I’ve got a lot of sympathy for this girl – she did nothing wrong.
Dan Schwartz, Editor, The Hearing Blog
November 7, 2013
What part of “factory loss and damage coverage” do you not understand? All it takes is an affidavit that the aids were lost or stolen, signed by the hearing aid professional, and the factory will replace them. In Melaugh’s case, a copy of the police report would make it iron-clad.
Editor wrote,
“Regarding the warranty, I think she’d need to show that damage in order to be able to claim any replacement parts/hearing aid. Since they’re stolen it seems unlikely she’d be able to claim, I would imagine.”
Editor
November 7, 2013
Reading it back again, I can see your point Dan, but over here in the UK, the terms ‘warranty’ and any reference to “factory” tend to indicate a guarantee from the manufacturer covering faults in the technology when it was made, for a limited period of time.
I didn’t read it as being an insurance policy, but if that’s what you meant (and you did use the word ‘coverage’) then fine!
So you’re saying that when people buy a hearing aid in the US, they tend to get insurance with it? Over here that would definitely be done separately, I think, at least in the private market, I don’t think insurance would come with a product (unless it was added on at the point of purchase).
I’d also guess that since she won the aids, the chances of her having that insurance might be slim in any case.
Dan Schwartz, Editor, The Hearing Blog
November 7, 2013
Also, hearing aids don’t work very well when they are in a pocketbook: Modern WDRC digital hearing aids are adjusted to always be comfortable, so they can be worn all day long, just like contact lenses.
What’s more, Emily was walking through west Jax, which is a Bad Neighborhood: She knew better — or should have known better — to not take her hearing aids off, for safety reasons.
https://www.facebook.com/emelaugh/
Editor
November 7, 2013
“Also, hearing aids don’t work very well when they are in a pocketbook.”
I’d guess that when they’re not worn on the ears, they tend not to be very effective, no (!)
I think it’s bad form to criticise a deaf person for their choice of whether to wear a hearing aid or not, no matter where they are. Maybe that’s just me.
She knows her ears, she knows her eyes. She managed to survive being held up at gunpoint without her hearing aids on, didn’t she?
Dan Schwartz, Editor, The Hearing Blog
November 7, 2013
@Editor: Here in the United States the hearing aid market is fiercely competitive, with the “Big Six” and others all vying for the dealer and audiologist market. All hearing aids are shipped with a one to three year factory warranty (depending on whether basic, mid-level or premium). In addition, many independent dealers and audiologists belong to buying groups, which have as a negotiated benefit, an additional year of warranty coverage.
As part of the factory coverage, loss and damage “insurance” (actually self-insurance) coverage is often supplied, especially for mid-level and premium models.
Emily won a $5000 pair of hearing aids in the raffle, which would be mid-to-high level with 2-3 years of repair warranty coverage; and very likely the same term for loss & damage coverage.
Editor
November 7, 2013
Well that’s nice to know, but since she offered a reward for the recovery of the aids, and she’s now been offered a replacement pair for free, I think it’s highly likely she didn’t have that coverage – or that she doesn’t know she has the coverage! But thanks for the in-depth explanation.
Dan Schwartz, Editor, The Hearing Blog
November 7, 2013
@Charlie: Most likely Melaugh has L&D coverage but either wasn’t told, or is more common, forgot to read the Florida hearing aid delivery document and/or FDA-approved instruction manual, which in every case I’ve seen includes the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act statement~
Editor
November 7, 2013
Good news – she’s had offers to replace them free of charge! http://www.wokv.com/news/news/local/offers-help-deaf-woman-robbed-hearing-aid/nbjby/
Linda Richards
November 7, 2013
The irony aside (of the value of the hearing aids being equated with money in the purse), I’m with the Editor on this one…. I never wear my hearing aids at home unless I know I’m expecting visitors, or workmen, chatting to my neighbours, etc.. If my neighbours catch me while I’m outside, they are now used to me saying “Hold on, let me go and get my hearing aids then I can hear you”. When I am travelling, bus, train, plane, in cars, etc., I always switch them off. They are the last thing I put on before I go out and the first thing I take off when I get in. Whatever this girl’s reason for putting her aids into her purse, (acclimatisation, protection from the elements, or simply valuing them as precious to her), she was the victim here and the crime was not of her making. We’re castigating the wrong person here. Lmr
Sharon Tuel
November 19, 2013
Its good the she remember the face of the thief! Those hoodlums would just stole from anyone without remorse. I am so sorry for her hearing aids. http://www.davisfamilyhearing.com/