As a teenager, New Kids on the Block singer Joey McIntyre had to deal with the deafening screams of young girls in the audience. As an adult, he's dealing with the fact his son may never hear him speak.
"You just feel like there's a huge rock that was dropped on you and you can't breathe very deeply," said McIntyre.
McIntyre remembers the moment he and his wife, Barrett, were told their newborn son Rhys had severe hearing loss. It took some time for the news to sink in.
"For me it was very much a process going through the emotions," said Barrett McIntyre.
Things were going well for the singer. He had just wrapped up a successful reunion tour with the NKOTB and had recently released new music. But then his world changed. Things they took for granted with their first son Griffin, they couldn't with Rhys.
"We're just so in tuned to what a baby says and does," said McIntyre. "Stuff that you normally would take for granted and wouldn't think about."
And that's why on Tuesday, McIntyre was at Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, to meet patients and other parents like him.
Seven-year-old Jack Fish of Leominster was there for eye surgery after being bitten by a dog.
His mother, Kara, was thrilled to meet McIntyre.
"That was awesome," she said. "I've seen them a bunch of times growing up."
Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck is also chairman of the MEEI board of directors.
He's used to dealing with a child with a disability. His 18-year-old son is blind.
He gave the McIntyre's advice on how to deal with it.
"It's much better probably than you fear it might be," said Grousbeck. "It can be really fantastic but it's always a little bit of hard work." He added, "Hang in there."
Joey and Barrett had their son's hearing tested the day after he was born which is mandatory in most states. Doctors say early detection is the key.
"This is important because those are critical times for developmental speech and language," said Dr Donald Keamy, pediatric otolaryngologist at MEEI. "Without your hearing you can't develop speech and language."
Rhys is ten-months-old and doing well with hearing aids.
His father doesn't worry he'll never hear him sing, in fact he jokes about it.
"Yeah, it's a shame with my voice for him not to hear me. I mean Frank Sinatra (not a problem)...but me…" (He laughs).
In the end he knows one thing for sure.
"He's going to be ok, no matter what."
The New Kids on the Block will reunite Wednesday in Boston. They'll perform at a benefit for the MEEI Cures for Kids Fund.
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