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Seven-week-old boy hears mom's voice for the first time, can't help but smile

Lachlan hears for first time

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In July 2012, Toby and Michelle Lever of Victoria, Australia, watched as specialists fit their then-7-week-old son, Lachlan, with hearing aids.

He had been diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears during routine newborn screening tests.

Once fitted with the hearing aids, Lachlan heard his mother’s voice for the first time. He immediately began to smile — and Michelle burst into tears.

"When they turned the headphones on and Lachlan smiled and his face lit up, it was the most magical thing I’d ever seen in my life," Michelle recalled. “I had never been more happy in my life.”

"His reaction when they were turned on was truly amazing. We cried from happiness. Our beautiful little boy is now two years old and doing remarkably well," proud dad Toby wrote on YouTube last week.

Michelle posted the video of Lachlan hearing for the first time on her Facebook page in 2012. Last week, the clip suddenly went viral.

"(The attention) has all come completely out of the blue. It started last Thursday, but it’s happening so quickly. I went to bed on Saturday with 6,000 likes and when I woke up on Sunday there were 40,000!" Michelle told the Daily Mail Australia.

As of this morning, the video had been liked more than 323,000 times on her Facebook page — and shared more than 500,000 times — and viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube.

"I am so happy that we can share our magic moment with the world," Michelle said. “I hope it can give some other families the realization everything is going to be okay.”

Michelle told the Daily Mail Australia that her son’s behaviour changed almost immediately after being fitted with the hearing aids: He became more interactive, expressive, and smiled more frequently.

According to Lachlan’s speech therapist at Taralye, an oral language centre for deaf children, the 2-year-old’s speech and language skills are now on par with other kids in his age group.

He said his first words at 6 months, loves music and chatting with his big sisters, and will likely be enrolled in a mainstream school when he’s old enough.

"He is the biggest chatterbox out there. He’s only two so there’s a lot is gibberish that you can’t understand, but when he’s telling you something, he makes sure you understand," said Michelle.