WICKLIFFE, Ohio (WJW) – Wickliffe High School sophomore running back and linebacker Cole Vanatta may look like your typical high school football player, but looks can be deceiving.
“I was born deaf,” Cole said. “I think I found out when I was 5 years old. I ended up getting hearing aids and ever since then I’ve worn them all my life.”
Cole is missing 70% of his hearing in his left ear and 30% in his right.
Wickliffe head football coach Marce Porcello has known Cole since he was seven and has coached him in baseball and now football.
“He’s handled it really well over the years,” Porcello said. “He never uses it as excuse, and coaching him growing up, we’ve learned to communicate in different ways. He’s handled it really well.”
Cole’s hearing aids have helped him in everyday life, but on the football field, that’s where challenges arise.
“With football, with the contact and all that, my hearing aids can’t stay in.” Cole said.
That has caused problems, according to Cole’s mom, Christy Vanatta.
“They would just tell the quarterback plays and the quarterback would tell Cole. And it was a quick thing. Sometimes he got the plays and sometimes he didn’t get the plays,” Christy said.
“He has to hear a play call. He has to hear a cadence. He has to hear any checks we might make,” Porcello said. “Ultimately at the end of the play, he has to hear a whistle. So it gets challenging.”
Now, Cole and the Wickliffe football program are looking for help to acquire a new state-of-the-art hearing-impaired helmet similar to the 5G Helmets developed by AT&T.
“So I’m trying to find something any way we can to have something where Coach Marce can relay the plays to me. Whether that’s a ear piece, Apple Watch, something that can help me listen to the plays, that I can know it, not have to second guess the quarterback or second guess what the play is,” Cole said.
“I’d like to somehow find a way to communicate through a specialized helmet or somehow another form of communication for him so it’s not getting in the way of him playing football,” said Porcello.
Cole has already proved no matter what you’re dealing with, physically or emotionally, you can accomplish your goals and dreams if you continue to put your mind and heart into it.
“There’s always going to be challenges with me having hearing loss and it’s something never really affected me,” Cole said. “But if someone has something — whether it’s hearing loss or something else — it’s really easy to get past it if you just put your mind to it. That’s all that matters.”
