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Electronic device allows boy to hear for first time

GAINESVILLE - A 15-year-old Port Orange boy heard his parents' voices for the first time with help from an electronic device implanted near his ear.

Travis Koenke was born profoundly deaf. But when his father, Walter Koenke, leaned forward Monday and asked "Can you hear me, son?" Travis grinned and gave a thumbs-up. His parents quietly broke into tears.

The device has been implanted in 13,000 adults and 10,000 children in the United States, and can help provide a sense of sound to people born without hearing.

The Koenkes said they began discussing the possibility with surgeon Patrick Antonelli in September, but left the final decision to Travis, an active teen who played defensive end last year for Daytona Beach's Mainland High School state championship football team.

"He was like, "Sure, I'm ready! Bring it on!' " said his mother, Robin Koenke.

On July 9, a device designed to stimulate electrodes inside the cochlea, a snail-shaped part of the inner ear, was implanted under the skin behind Travis' right ear. The electrodes transmit impulses to the brain, which can learn to recognize them as sounds.

"Some people have described it as more like hearing the voice of Darth Vader, or even Donald Duck," said audiologist Katherine Gray.

On Monday, Gray adjusted the device, programming a series of beeps of varying pitch and loudness into a computer at the Speech and Hearing Center at Shands at the University of Florida to stimulate electrodes in the cochlea.

"We asked him what was the first thing he wanted to hear, and he said his daddy's voice," Robin Koenke said.

POLK CITY - It was a sticky situation on Interstate 4 early Tuesday.

A tanker carrying thousands of gallons of sugar water overturned near State Road 559, caught fire and spilled the liquid.

Traffic in both westbound I-4 lanes was detoured for nearly five hours while crews cleaned up the mess. Backups of 10 to 11 miles were reported throughout the morning, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The 5 a.m. crash was caused by a trailer that broke loose from a pickup headed east. FHP Trooper Larry Coggins said the 18- to 20-foot utility trailer, which was hauling concrete equipment, crossed the median and crashed head-on into the westbound tanker.

The tanker driver, Norberto Legarretta, 52, was not seriously injured. The pickup did not stop, and as of Tuesday afternoon troopers hadn't been able to identify the driver.

PORT CHARLOTTE - A burglary suspect being chased by deputies ran into a lake and drowned early Tuesday, authorities said.

Robert Lee Whitworth Jr., 32, took off his shirt and shoes and waded into Explorer Lake about 4:45 a.m. A deputy followed him into the lake, but Whitworth went under and never resurfaced, the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office said. Divers recovered his body four hours later in 12 feet of water.

Whitworth ran from a nearby house after deputies descended on it hunting for suspects in a string of recent burglaries and thefts. Another man was taken into custody.

FORT LAUDERDALE - Florida's Turnpike officials are checking the distance between the road and nearby canals in South Florida to make sure all required guardrails are present.

The scrutiny comes after three children lost their lives late Saturday when a church bus ran off the turnpike and plunged into a canal.

There was no guardrail at the site of the accident, although guardrails are required when the road is less than 60 feet from the water's edge and the canal was just 50 feet from the road at that point.

Either the distance was never measured or years of erosion had reduced it, officials said.

On Monday, officials began re-evaluating stretches of the turnpike that are bordered by canals to make sure the distance is at least 60 feet where there are no guardrails, said Christopher Warren, the turnpike's chief operating officer.

"Where we don't have the appropriate distances, we'll look pretty quickly into bringing those sections up to par," Warren said.