Henry is an elementary school student who loves to read, play sports, and participate in Cub Scouts. He’s also very excited to get his first pair of hearing aids.

Henry was diagnosed with a conductive hearing loss at the age of two. Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound waves have difficulty traveling through the ear, and sometimes tubes are put in to help this happen. Years later—and after several sets of tubes—Henry’s parents decided that hearing aids were his best option.

“We want Henry to excel in all parts of life; school, sports and his social life,” says his mother, Sara. “Henry gets frustrated when he can’t understand what’s being said. It was a no-brainer to go with hearing aids.”

Through his experience with hearing loss, Henry has had an excellent role model to look up to—his mother. Sara also has hearing loss and was named as a HearStrong Champion in 2014. She is a strong advocate for those with hearing loss and knew that getting Henry fit with hearing aids was the right thing to do.

Like Sara, Henry is very excited for his first set of hearing aids. After finding out he was going to be hearing better, he told his teacher right away and then told the rest of his class.

“I am excited to hear people talk to me and understand what they say to me,” says Henry.

Henry is a HearStrong Champion because he is proud to have hearing aids, and is not afraid to tell other kids about them. At a young age, he knows it’s important to always be yourself and like other people for who they are.