DALLAS (KTVT/CNN) – It was an incredible, breakthrough moment for a 4-year-old deaf boy in Texas, as he heard and understood live music for the first time in his life.
Jace Lee, 4, may have been at his first NBA game – and his team, the Dallas Mavericks, won – but the 4-year-old’s attention wasn’t on basketball.
“When we were walking out of the suite, he got a real big, 'Whoa. What’s that?’" said Cody Lee, the boy’s father.
Jace’s parents could hardly hold their son back, as the celebratory cadence of the Mavericks’ drumline boomed out.
The 4-year-old lost his hearing at a young age and only recently, with the help of a cochlear implant, did he start catching glimpses of loud sounds.
The drums were one of just a handful of sounds he’d ever heard.
"He tapped on his processor, and he signed, ‘Where is the sound?’” said Brenda Lee, the boy’s mother.
The family raced down to the lower level to find the drumline.
Jace at first stood in awe of the drummers then began to move and dance to the beat.
"You know, people do take certain things for granted. You don't think about it. You wake up, and you hear stuff. It's not the same way for him,” Brenda Lee said.
When the performance was over, Jace even walked up to one of the drums and hit it on top, like the drummers.
Todd Jackson, one of the drummers on the line, remembers Jace.
"It's still blowing me away. Just the fact that – you think about your youngest age, how young you can think of something, and this is going to be one of those moments for him,” Jackson said.
Jackson says drumming goes beyond just hearing.
"He felt it. He felt it. You can see him thinking and see him processing it. He walked right up and got right in,” Jackson said.
Cody and Brenda Lee are starting to realize they might have a future drummer in the family.
"If he wants a drum set, I'll buy it. I might regret it,” said Cody Lee, with a laugh.
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