Robert Valderzak regains hearing after shaking in earthquake

Tuesday's earthquake in Virginia may have caused disruptions up and down the East Coast, but it also gave one man an unexpected gift.

After the quake, 75-year-old Robert Valderzak was suddenly able to hear again.

On Father's Day he fell and lost his hearing. Valderzak has been a patient at Veterans Affairs Hospital in the D.C. area since the incident using an audio device system to communicate.

"He has a conductive loss, meaning that could be due to fluid or problems with the bones of the ear," said Dr. Ross Fletcher, chief of staff at the hospital, to MyFox DC. "And he has a nerve loss as well, so it's a combined loss."

But shortly after the quake struck, while Valderzak's children were visiting, he sat up in bed as said to his kids, "You know, my hearing is back. I can hear everything, people in the hallway."

He had sat in silence for months before saying those words.

Doctors believe the shaking must have moved something around in his head.

"It was a miracle," he told MyFox DC. "Couldn't ask for a better day."