While she was eating at a friend’s house, this teen girl pulled out her phone as she sat at the dinner table. Her friend’s father thought her using her phone was rude and wanted to teach her a lesson. What happened next resulted in the girl being rushed to the ER, and now, her life has been changed forever, thanks to the painful permanent damage that resulted. Should this father be in jail?
Cindy Redmond’s will never be the same after the North Wilmington, Delaware girl “made a mistake” that many teens choose to commit. As she sat at the dinner table of her friend’s house, Cindy took out her smartphone. The food was still being prepared and someone called her phone so innocently, she chose to take the call.
Sadly, her friend’s stepfather wasn’t happy with her using her cellphone at the table so he wanted to teach her a lesson. Thinking that this type of “punishment” would just scare the teen girl, the annoyed and over-zealous dad attempted to discipline Cindy by blowing an air horn in her face, Daily Mail reported.
Cindy’s entire life was changed in that instant when she says she felt a pop in her head and began to experience excruciating pain. Sadly, it didn’t get better. After four days of experiencing pain, Cindy was in the emergency room because she couldn’t bear the sound of the outside world anymore.
Eventually, she was diagnosed with a very rare disorder called hyperacusis, a condition that is believed to be due to neurological or inner ear damage. The condition is painful and debilitating, and there is no cure.
Everyday noises, which would be nothing more than a mild annoyance to most people, cause a burning, stabbing pain in those with hyperacusis. So, common noises like babies crying, sirens blaring, dogs barking, or people shouting leave Cindy in debilitating pain, forcing her into quiet isolation to avoid the agony associated with loud noise.
Of course, this has had a negative impact on Cindy’s life in so man ways. “For her 14th birthday, she wanted to go to the aquarium. Twenty minutes in, she was sobbing from the pain,” her mother Laurie recalled. What’s more, the condition has forced Cindy to withdraw from school, completely changing her life.
Cindy, who’s now home-schooled, will never be able to attend public school with her friends again because of the incurable, severe pain she experiences daily. The noise in the cafeteria, especially, would just be too much.
Even with the noise-blocking headphones that she wears most of the day and an earpiece that produces “white noise” as a form of sound therapy, she is still in moderate pain throughout each and every day.
Since it only takes one high-pitched noise to send her reeling for over an hour in debilitating agony and it can take her days to recover from prolonged noise, there are so many things Cindy misses out on.
For the rest of her life, she will have to sit out parties, dances, family functions, concerts, shows, and so much more — or risk a pain that’s unimaginable to the rest of us. She may never be able to get a job.
What’s worse, Laurie says the man who changed Cindy’s life forever by blowing the horn in her face has never apologized. He also doesn’t allow his daughter to see Cindy anymore, and some of Cindy’s friends even accuse her of faking the condition.
“It was a lot of anger at first and then turned into sadness realizing that my entire world had crumbled,” said Cindy, who’s now taking things one day at a time as her future remains a big unknown.
But, shocking many, Laurie says she and her daughter have no desire to seek legal action, choosing instead to focus on forgiveness and move on to the best of their ability.
Children can sometimes break rules. They can even be insensitive and rude, especially as teenagers. While it’s an adult’s job to correct a child when the child is doing something wrong, some adults take punishment too far. This was one of those times.
A simple explanation of the rules should have sufficed. He could have simply told her that if she couldn’t respect the rules in his home, she wouldn’t be welcome back. But, this guy wanted to enact a punishment that was both startling and humiliating. Perhaps he thought it would be funny. But, no one is laughing. Instead, we are reminded that any form of discipline should begin with a discussion.
As for the air horn, these are common, easily obtainable, and often seen used for so-called “pranks.” Sadly, most would never imagine the damage they can do. Let Cindy’s story be a warning. Blowing an air horn close to an unsuspecting person’s ears is not a good idea. Save someone from the pain Cindy suffers by making sure others know an air horn is no joke nor is it a harmless form of punishment.
