WCH cochlear implant bungle: Gracie will finally hear Taylor Swift live in concert, after shocking medical bungle
The first song eight-year-old Gracie heard after seven years of deafness due to a horror medical bungle was by Taylor Swift. Now she’s received the surprise of her life.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
After seven years unable to hear, the first song Gracie Vandenberg heard was Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ – now the eight-year-old will be attending Swift’s concert.
The first seven years of Gracie’s life was challenging, unable to hear after she was a victim of the Women’s and Children’s cochlear implant debacle.
At birth, Gracie was diagnosed with mild hearing loss which quickly progressed into profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
After undergoing cochlear implant surgery she became a victim of the WCH cochlear implant bungle leaving her deaf for the first seven years of her life.
In April 2023 Gracie had her hearing devices programmed correctly and the first song she listened to was a Swift song — she’s dreamt of hearing her live ever since.
On Monday morning, radio station Mix102.3 made Gracie’s dream come true.
The Max and Ali Show invited Gracie, her mum Jennifer Faggotter and Little Allied Health chief executive Nicole Eglinton to the show to announce the news that Gracie would be attending Swift’s concert live in Melbourne.
“We’ve got you some tickets,” Ali told Ms Faggotter on air.
Max announced the show was gifting Gracie two tickets for the Melbourne February 18 show.
“We’ll get you over there, we’ll put you up somewhere you can stay and you can see Taylor Swift,” he said.
Ms Faggotter was brought to tears while Gracie was over the moon.
“It’s an absolute pleasure to help this little girl’s dream come true, and we wish her all the very best with her speech and listening progression,” Ali said.
Her co-host Max said attending Swift’s concert “should be a pretty epic memory for Gracie”.
“We are thrilled to have played a part and to have moved the people of Adelaide with her story,” he said.
The radio show also will gift Gracie Taylor Swift merchandise.
Gracie was one of at least 30 children to have their implants wrongly programmed, potentially causing developmental delays.
These families each received a one-off $50,000 payment from the state government which does not affect their compensation rights.
OTR investigating complaint about water in petrol at servo
The owners of OTR are investigating an official complaint water in petrol bought at a servo caused a car to break down at an intersection – but deny the claims.
Unfortunate interview mix-up amid hospital surgery blunder fallout
A hospital’s chief executive has been forced to defend the administration’s public disclosure in a confusing interview after unsafe surgical equipment was unknowingly used.