Thomas F.B.Eye ? I really liked the show when I was 12 and
up. After a few years, I felt like the Lord wanted me to let
go of it. But now, I honestly feel like He's given it back to
me. I really, really like the show! It's true-to-life, it's decent,
it's wonderful, and it's based on a true story!
Sue Thomas went deaf at age 18 months. Her parents found a teacher who
taught her to speak and read lips. She joined her brothers in sports and
learned to play piano. Playing piano became a way for her to express her
emotions. Through grade school and up, she was bullied and made fun of
by other kids. No one wanted to be her friend. When she was a teenager,
she took a drug overdose and was rushed to the hospital, when she noticed
a verse in the Bible that was in her room, "Come unto Me all you who labor
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." After that, she began
attending church more and her parents encouraged her to searching God's
truth. When she left college, she applied for working at the F.B.I. What
she thought would be a career turned out to be a program for people
with disabilities. She was in finger-printing, where they had to count
each groove, etc. The teachers thought it'd be easier for a deaf person
because it was quiet and the person wouldn't have to be distracted
trying to focus on everything around them. To Sue, it was long
and tedious. She was about to quit, when someone from the F.B.I.
surveillance team brought her into their wing and asked her about
her lip-reading abilities. They had a video recording of some
suspects, but the sound mechanism had failed, and the agents
didn't know what the people were saying. They showed the video
to Sue on the screen, and she read and repeated every word they said.
After that, she was transferred to surveillance, and out on the field,
through a pair of binoculars, she could read the conversations of
suspects without them knowing, as long as she could see their lips.
After a while though, she quit the F.B.I. and tried to find a ministry
she could do for others, and at that time, she was granted her very
first hearing dog, Levi who became her companion and ears.
Sue Thomas is now a speaker who travels telling her story, trying to
bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to many, and trying to show that
even disabled people can do something, can make a difference.
At this time, she is suffering from MS which has recently made
things more difficult for her. She is a bright, funny, enthusiastic
person. I've never met her in person, but I've seen videos of
her speaking. Every Christmas, with the help of her friends,
she visits the homeless in Washington, D.C. and gives them
food, clothes, blankets, and tries to reach out to them.
When her story was to become a television series, she was
consulted about whether the lead actress was to be deaf or
hearing. There was no question in Sue's mind: she had to be
deaf, someone who truly understood the world of silence.
Sue personally chose the lead actress, and that's where
deaf actress Deanne Bray was cast into Sue's role. Sue
and Deanne became good friends, and the show has
become a refreshing series to watch.
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| Sue and her hearing dog, Katie |
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| Sue Thomas and her dog, Gracie with Deanne Bray and her on screen dog, Levi |
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