What would you say, if a mute suddenly start speaking after years? Two things might come in mind. Either she wasn’t mute, or it’s a miracle. For 52 year old Jan Christian, it was definitely a miracle but a miracle powered by science. Jan Christian had lost her voice due to a car accident at the age of 17, and can speak with the help of Jet engine technology 35 years later.
Jan had a car accident at the age of 17, where her throat slammed against the dashboard of the car. The slamming cracked her Larynx inside the throat and her voice was impaired. Christian could normally breathe and swallow but couldn’t speak like normal people. She could barely speak above a whisper.
Over the years, Jan Christian along with his husband Randy Christian visited many doctors. But no doctors could help Jan Christian. One day, while she was in a supermarket, one stranger lady heard her voice condition. The stranger lady wrote down the name of Dr. Sid M. Khosla on a card, handed it over to Jan Christian and disappeared. Later, Jan Christian met Dr. Sid M. Khosla who was an ear, nose and throat specialist at University Hospital in Cincinnati. After observing Jan Christian’s voice box (vocal cord) condition, Dr. Sid M. Khosla immediately assured her that he could bring her voice back.
Before becoming a doctor, Dr. Sid M. Khosla studied Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Sid M. Khosla used the engineering of jet engines to help restore Jan Christian’s voice. The medical procedure was not very easy. It took 7 surgeries to restore Christian’s ability to talk. The theories behind the surgery compare the wind’s ability to affect jet engines and translate that into the wind’s effects on speech.
Jan Christian’s is very happy now after getting her voice back. Jan Christian proudly says that she owes the strange lady who gave her the miracle card.
“I can’t remember her face and I would love to know who she is,” Christian said. “She gave me a little miracle card. Sometimes I think my husband wishes I was quiet again. He used to joke that he had the perfect wife, one that couldn’t talk.”
However, after the success of getting back Jan Christian’s, Dr. Sid M. Khosla has reportedly been inundated with requests similar to Christian’s.
Source : CBS Cleveland
