Milestone surgery will improve the lives of children with hearing loss.

When 10-year-old Lila McKeague had lunch at a busy French restaurant in Vancouver on Wednesday, it wasn’t really the pommes frites she was most excited about. It was the clang in the kitchen, the rattle of cutlery, the glassware clinking at the bar and the rhythm of background chatter.

For the first time since her birth, the Cranbrook Grade six student could hear everything.

“There was a look of wonder in her eyes,” said dad Tim McKeague.

Shortly before lunch, Lila had a new hearing aid switched on at B.C. Children’s Hospital. The Osia bone-conduction device was implanted just below her left ear in June, and on Wednesday morning connected by magnet to a small external transducer. Lila will now be able to pick up much more in the spectrum of complex soundscapes.

The classroom, music, movies and group conversations are going to be much more manageable and, perhaps more importantly for the young girl, more fun.

“It was very hard to hear people before, especially in my classroom,” said Lila who was born with microtia and ear canal atresia (the lack of an ear canal) on the left side. The congenital abnormality creates “conductive” hearing loss, meaning that sound doesn’t conduct through the ear correctly. And because the outer part of the ear isn’t fully developed, she couldn’t wear a conventional hearing aid or use earphones.

Lilia had day surgery at B.C. Children’s in June to implant a bone-conduction device under the skin behind her left ear. On Wednesday, audiologists at the hospital fitted the external transducer that fastens to her head with a magnet. She no longer has to wear a tight, uncomfortable band around her head to keep her old hearing aid in place.

The Osia also has a microphone that others can use to speak directly into, and a Bluetooth component so users can stream sound directly to the implant from any compatible digital device.

10-year-old Lila McKeague, who was born with an abnormality where the outer ear does not fully develop, hears her dad clearly through a microphone after receiving a new new Osia implant at B.C. Children’s Hospital. The microphone can be clipped to a teacher at school. pic.twitter.com/FvxF4pM3vV

“Everything is way louder, and it feels comfortable,” said Lila.

When the chance to become one of the first children in B.C. to receive the implant came up, McKeague said Lila was “dead-keen,” and didn’t hesitate.

“I was excited, I was very excited but nervous putting it on for the first time, about how it would feel, but I can barely feel anything,” said Lila.

Alison Beers, provincial coordinator for the B.C. Early Hearing program, said the devices, which are about the size of a Toonie, are more comfortable for children with microtia who can’t wear conventional hearing aids.

The operation for the implant involves a small incision just behind the ear, and the implant is attached to the skull with a small screw. Once the incision heals, the external device is placed and the magnet is adjusted so that it will be powerful enough to stay put.

“She should be able to do all her activities with the device in place,” said Beers.

The hospital has completed two Osia implants this year, and expects to complete at least 10 more before the end of the year, in what Beers called a “milestone” after two years of preparation.

For the McKeague family, the event is life-changing.

“Sitting there having lunch with her and seeing her eyes so wide open, hearing everything, it was phenomenal,” said Tim McKeague.

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