Dr. Teddy McRackan and MUSC TeamGive Young Ukraine War Refugee The Gift Of Sound

South Carolina doctors have given a young Ukraine war refugee the gift of sound.

A family that fled Ukraine last year came to the United States in desperate need of answers. They feared that their young daughter, 2-year-old Zlata Kuzmina, was completely deaf.

Dr. Teddy McRackan, a surgeon and cochlear implant specialist and his team at the Medical University of South Carolina confirmed the girl was deaf in her left ear, but they saw a glimmer of hope. "We saw that she was responding at very, very loud levels to noise in that right ear," McRacken said.

McRackan and his team surgically placed a cochlear implant in her ear in a procedure performed at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital.

When the device was turned on in April, Zlata could hear — an emotional moment for her parents.

Her mother hopes she will now be able to understand what her family says, and sings — "and I hope she will sing with us."