052925 UHCCF California Final- Descriptive Audio
The video opens with a shot of a street in Grass Valley, CA, decorated with colorful umbrellas strung overhead between buildings. White text appears in a blue banner at the bottom. The scene transitions to a large, vibrant mural on a building wall that reads "GRASS VALLEY" in large, stylized letters, with a painted scene of a sunset over a river and mountains, adorned with flowers. The camera then focuses on a close-up of a child's hands assembling colorful, translucent magnetic tiles. Gentle music plays throughout.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Grass Valley, CA
MAN: Yeah, that's gonna give you some support. Cross it, yeah, good.
Next, a family—mother, father, and two young boys—are gathered around a dining table. The boys are excitedly reaching into a black crate filled with more colorful magnetic tiles. One boy stands on a bench to reach the crate, while the father stands nearby and the mother is seated.
MARY: Jackson is the kindest, sweetest boy.
Mary Lucatero interviews on a couch in her home. White text appears in a blue banner.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Mary Lucatero
Jackson and Phoenix's mom
MARY: A lot of energy. He is a total ham.
Another young boy, Phoenix, similar in appearance to Jackson and also wearing a purple shirt, looks towards the camera and smiles slightly while playing with magnetic tiles. The video then shows an interview with a man with dark hair and a beard interviewing on the same couch. White text appears in a blue banner.
JOHNNY: Phoenix, definitely a gamer. He's very curious about a lot of things.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Johnny Lucatero
Jackson and Phoenix's dad
JOHNNY: He'll ask me just the most random questions. He's very fun to talk to, even at this age.
The scene returns to the two boys, Jackson and Phoenix, playing with the colorful magnetic tiles at a table covered with a black and gold starry-patterned cloth. Their parents are nearby. Jackson is seen with a hearing aid in his right ear. Jackson then holds up two translucent magnetic tiles, one yellow and one blue, looking at them intently. He now has hearing aids in both ears. He is then shown building a tall tower with the colorful magnetic tiles, while his father stands beside him, watching and occasionally assisting.
MARY: Well, I had an idea early on when Jackson's speech wasn't developing. He just wasn't meeting those milestones and saying words when he should have. But when they started school, that's when their teacher said, "No, it's definitely their hearing." Right after the teacher raised concerns about that, I just remember his first report card. They said, "Jackson just sits by himself and he has no friends." Oh my god, I'm gonna cry. And it was so sad just to think like he can't communicate with kids.
A close-up shows the back of Phoenix's head, revealing a black hearing aid behind his right ear. Then, Jackson, in profile with his red and green hearing aid, plays with magnetic tiles while his brother Phoenix plays in the background. Jackson, now with a black hearing aid, is shown reaching up to place a tile on a tall tower, with his mother helping him.
MARY: I got their audiograms done and it showed that Jackson had moderate to severe hearing loss and Phoenix was completely deaf in one ear and had moderate to severe hearing loss in the other ear.
The two boys are then shown lying on beanbag chairs, engrossed in playing a video game. Jackson holds a white controller, and Phoenix holds a red one. Jackson is wearing a hearing aid. A wider shot shows them playing in a room with a bunk bed. A close-up of Jackson shows him looking up at the TV screen while playing. Mary continues interviewing.
MARY: To have not one but two kids need hearing aids is a huge financial undertaking. I just thought worst-case scenario were they gonna grow up and lead a normal life? Would they be able to have friends? Would they be able to communicate and go through school okay? And so it was really dark. It was scary. I didn't know if they were just going to lead normal lives.
The family, now including a younger girl, is shown walking hand-in-hand down a paved road in a wooded area. The mother walks with her arm around Jackson. The video then shows Mary with Johnny on the couch. Mary continues interviewing.
MARY: The audiologist said, "Hey, there's this foundation. I don't know if they're accepting applications, but maybe it's worth a shot." The UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation grant helped get them their hearing aids and really gave them the chance to communicate. I don't know where we would be without having the hearing aids. I'm so grateful that not only did we get one grant, but we got a grant for the other boy, and it was like, just honestly life-changing.
JOHNNY: It starts off with, "What was that?" "Oh, it's just the refrigerator closing.” "What was that?” "Your sister threw a ball on the other side of the room."
MARY: When they heard birds, and like, "What is that?" I was like, "That's a bird."
The video shows the family outside together walking. It then returns to Mary and Johnny on the couch.
MARY: The leaves, stepping on a leaf, stepping on a stick. All those tiny, itty-bitty sounds.
JOHNNY: All of a sudden, it felt like normalcy, like things were just normal. We were all verbal, we could all talk to each other, and we could all reason and do all those things that other people could do.
MARY: I remember the next report card, it said, “Jackson has so many friends now, and he has his little gang of friends that he hangs out with."
The video shows the father putting a blue and black bicycle helmet on Jackson's head. Jackson then rides a teal bicycle down a paved road, with his father walking proudly beside him.
MARY: And it just felt like it was all worth it.
JOHNNY: Through this grant, we're able to give them that gift. They could hear all this stuff. This whole new world opened up to them.
The video dissolves to a white screen with the blue UHC logo and blue text. The music fades.
TEXT ON SCREEN: UHC
uhc.com
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