Heartwarming video shows toddler hearing for the first time

One-year-old Ayla Esler just heard sound for the first time ever. The touching moment was captured at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, and shared by Fox 4 Dallas.

Ayla recently had surgery to implant a hearing aid. Surrounded by her family, Ayla's audiologist turned on the implant for the first time-- and it was not hard to tell how much Ayla enjoyed it. The moment even brought her mother to tears.

Cochlear implants are surgically inserted into the inner ear. They transform sound vibrations reaching the ear into signals that can be sent to the auditory nerve, which is in turn sent to the brain and translated into recognizable sound.

Usually this process is accomplished by a part of the inner ear called a cochlea, but when the cochlea is damaged, an implant can serve the same function.

Implants can help in cases of severe hearing loss where even a hearing aid does not help.

It's a massive moment for Ayla and her entire family. There's a whole world out there for her to hear.