Four Brain Surgeries, Total Deafness, and Refusing to Break

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Four Brain Surgeries, Total Deafness, and Refusing to Break

Author: Ken Rideout and McKinnon Galloway

Published On: 9/8/26

McKinnon Galloway was diagnosed with NF2-SWN at 16 after a routine MRI for a volleyball concussion revealed two brain tumors. What followed was years of chemotherapy, a phase-one clinical trial, four brain surgeries, radiation, facial paralysis, a cerebral stroke, and the complete loss of her hearing.

Her third brain surgery became life-threatening when doctors discovered that her tumor had developed an extensive blood supply. McKinnon nearly bled out, woke up fully deaf, and learned that complications had prevented surgeons from placing the auditory brain implant she expected to receive. Months later, another surgery left her struggling to walk and unable to move one side of her face. McKinnon also opens up about her father’s alcoholism and suicide, the strength she inherited from her mother, the realities of navigating healthcare and insurance, and the daily isolation that can come with deafness.

Rather than disappearing into everything she lost, McKinnon built a platform that bridges the deaf and hearing worlds. Now followed by more than one million people across social media, she advocates for better deaf technology, clearer patient communication, and a more personal approach to medicine through her mission of “Humanizing Healthcare.”