Tai Medina is like any other four year old boy. He's curious, sweet and full of energy.
But there is one thing Tai is missing.
Tai doesn't have a right ear.
Tai was born with microtia and atresia, which pretty much means little ear. And he pretty much doesn't have an ear canal. Which means that tai is deaf on his right side.
"At first, i was like, 'why my son?"
Tai's parents, Tarra and Ismael, soon realized not only is his condition rare, information is scarce. As Tai started to talk they noticed he was behind his peers.
"That's when we started to worry that one ear wasn't good enough."
They got tai a bone-conduction hearing aid, which helped tai's speech. But that didn't stop others from looking at him, staring at his little ear.
"I do see people stare sometimes and that's kind of hard to deal with."
Tai knows he's different, but his classmates don't need to know that.
"Tai said to me yesterday, 'do I get a big ear like my friends? So, that's what I think right now."
With kindergarten right around the corner, Tarra and Ismael are worried about bullying. They knew that needed to do more to help their son fit in.
"He deals with it so awesome. You know, it shows the person he's becoming."
"Ok, so we start by taking an impression."
A flyer in the mail led the Medinas to Paul Tanner, an anaplastologist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute – a man who would soon give them new hope for their son.
"His presentation showed that he could fasten the prosthetic over the top of his microtic ear, which was huge for us."
Up until that point, Tarra and Ismael were told they'd have to remove Tai's little ear to put a prosthetic one on. A surgery and risk they weren't willing to take.
After a meeting with Dr Tanner, the Medinas were soon on their way to getting Tai an ear.
"Instead of sculpting the ear, I'm able to get a much more accurate model by doing a CT scan, then flipping it,” Dr Tanner said.
From there, Dr Tanner sends the image to the Marriott Library and the ear is printed using new technology, a 3d printer.
"It was noticeably a child's ear. We've printed other ears and you can just tell this is something a little different."
Tarra and Ismael say they can't believe how much the technology has changed their son's life.
"It really is a perfect replica of the other ear."
"I do see a big ol' smile on his face. I think he is pretty excited and it will be good for him."
A reality made possible by a mother and father's endless love for their son.
