For The First Time In Belarus, A Child Has Received A Brainstem Implant
1- 29.09.2026, 14:55
Three-year-old Platon regained his hearing after a complicated surgery in Germany.
A brain-stem implant was implanted in a child for the first time in Belarus, according to pristalica.by. Thanks to the implant, three-year-old Platon Mironovich has begun to hear. The entire country pitched in to fund the surgery—€85,000 was deposited into the parents’ account over the course of two and a half months.
Platon lives in the village of Leskovka in the Minsk District. He was born deaf, although his twin brother Yarik was born perfectly healthy. The child’s exact diagnosis is congenital absence of the cochlea and semicircular canals, as well as bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Platon could only begin to hear again after brain surgery—he needed a brainstem implant.
To raise the full amount needed for the surgery (€85,000), his parents launched a fundraising campaign. The money came together surprisingly quickly—in two and a half months. And as early as March, Platon underwent the necessary surgery at the University Hospital of Würzburg in Germany. In total, the boy spent 11 hours under anesthesia.
“It was scary. The doctors warned us that the surgery might not go according to plan. If his brain hadn’t responded to the sensors, they would have simply closed the incision and sent us home,” said his mother Anastasia.
In May, while in the intensive care unit under medical supervision, the child was hooked up to 12 sensors. It was a nerve-wracking process, as not all of them might respond.
“I wanted to believe that Platon would say right away, ‘Mom, I love you.’ But, of course, that didn’t happen. Although we were very lucky—all 12 sensors connected,” Anastasia noted.
Now the boy only has the device removed at night. He has a metal plate implanted behind his ear, to which the device—a small magnetic disc—is attached. For now, they have to use a headband as well, because the device is designed for adults.
They’ll adjust the sensitivity of the sensors gradually so as not to overwhelm the child or startle him with loud sounds.
Platon Is Already Learning to Speak
Platon is currently working with speech therapists. And he’s already making progress: he’s learned to pronounce the sounds “a” and “u.” Sometimes the boy might involuntarily call out to his parents, saying the long-awaited words “mom” and “dad.”
Platon has also started attending preschool, in the same class as his brother Yarik.
Anastasia admits that sometimes it’s not easy to let her son go—she worries about him so much. After all, any injury could be fatal for Platon.
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