FIVE MINUTES WITH ...
Q . TELL US ABOUT HOW YOU LOST YOUR HEARING . “ I have a special needs son at home who has Down ' s syndrome and cerebral palsy . In his younger days , he was often hospitalised due to a variety of different viruses . During one of those hospitalisations , we were in the hospital for ten days with him , because he is non-verbal . At the end of that stay , I contracted his virus . I was ill for a couple of weeks and experienced fogginess in my hearing .
“ Some months later , I went to a friend of mine who was an ear , nose and throat physician . I told him about the fogginess of the virus in my hearing , which hadn ' t gone away . We checked my hearing and my low and high ranges were normal , but the middle range was devastated . I could hear young children ' s voices , I could hear men ' s voices , but women ' s voices were gone to me .”
Q . HOW DID HEARING LOSS IMPACT YOU ? “ From then I struggled , but was able to follow some of the tips he provided in terms of keeping my hearing motivated to listen . But , recently , it became much more difficult to hear . I could hear the conversation when talking to my wife , but I literally couldn ' t discern the words . She ' s very gracious ; I ’ ve spent the last couple of years asking her to repeat herself .”
22 September 2022