We went to the ear department of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary where I was given a “behind the ear” hearing aid. I must have gone back to the hospital every month because none of them ever made me hear. I was given one every year because they kept trying to programme them to work on me, but they never did. They would look in my ear and produce moulds, before giving me the new hearing aid.

I even made front page of The Examiner, my local paper, to give people an idea of what was needed to help me hear.

It wasn’t until December 1993, that we first heard about cochlear implants, and discovered that they could help me hear again, but this time I’d need to go to Bradford Royal Infirmary.

I didn’t know what was happening, not even when I was looking around the hospital! My mum and dad had to write down what was going to happen because I couldn’t hear and, being very young, I was worried about having an operation. Infact one part of me was happy that I was going to hear again and the other, terrified of having the operation. I really wanted to hear again because I hated being in the silent world. I loved listening to music, and without the operation I would never be able to do that again.

Although I was scared at first, I got a bit more confident as I looked around the wards and met the nurses.
I met the doctor who would be carrying out my cochlear implant operation and was grateful that he’d be able to help me hear again.

We went home wondering whether or not we should go ahead with the operation, but I trusted the doctor and put all my faith in him. I lay in bed wondering what was going to happen to me but I was sure I was going to be okay with everyone there with me.

When I woke, I found a piece of paper which my parents had left for me. On it were the words ‘we are going through with the operation’. I can’t remember what I felt like at that time, even whether it was happiness or sadness.

They rang the hospital with their answer and asked them when I would be having the operation. In the next few days an appointment came up for us to go for a pre-op examination to check that I was healthy enough for the operation and I was. So they arranged a date for my operation. It was to be performed on February 24th 1994 and I would be in hospital for a week.

I remember walking up to the hospital and every step I took my heart beat faster. But I had my mum beside me to help me through it as we went into the hospital step by step. I kept feeling smaller and smaller every step I took. Holding my mum’s hand I went down the big, quiet corridors and when I got to the ward I took a deep breath, walked in and met the nurses that were going to look after me. They showed me to my bed, sat me up on it and asked me some questions about myself.

My operation wasn’t for a couple of hours, so I played Sonic the Hedgehog in the games area until a nurse came in to say “time for your magic cream!” She was referring to a numbness cream, but I didn’t know that at the time and I ran to my mum to ask for magic cream on my hand!

I was taken through a blue door in the ward on a trolley, into theatre, my heart beating fast when I saw the sign above the door. When I got in the room, I felt scared and held my mum’s hand and hugged my teddy which I had beside me. Slowly they put wires on me, while one nurse took off the numbness cream and put me to sleep.

I woke up a few hours after the operation feeling all dozy. I took a look round the room and saw my dad in the doorway looking at the wall and then he turned round when he saw that I had woken up. My mum then came in and sat beside me, asking if I was ok – I could tell she’d said that because I could still lip-read.

I took another look round the room and down at my hand. There was a needle in it to put antibiotics in. I also felt a bandage on my head and when I tried to lie on it, it hurt because that was where my new cochlear implant was. I lay on my left side, and because I was still a bit dozy, my mum and dad told me to go back to sleep.

I woke the next morning feeling sick and dizzy, but in the next few days I got my balance back and started walking around the hospital. On my second day I met a girl called Laura Beaumont and we became best friends during the time we were in hospital. We played together and helped each other make stuff with the nurses.

Laura came in a day later than us, so I had my operation before hers and had my bandage taken off before her, I was always one step ahead of her.

Over the next few days I had friends visit me in hospital, there were lots of get well cards for me from friends and family. I was glad that I had Laura there to play with though because I wouldn’t have liked being in hospital all alone. My mum brought me stuff to keep me busy but I wanted company, someone to talk to, and when I got my balance back after those few days, I walked around the hospital to find things to do.

I missed all my school friends while I was at the hospital so Mrs Porter, my helper at school came to visit me and she gave me a present and a get well card from her and my friends at school, I felt happy that they missed me more than I missed them, I couldn’t wait to get back to school.

The next day, a friend from the cochlear implant service came to see me and check that I was okay and that the operation went well. The doctor also came to see me and check that the scar was healing okay. It was but I wasn’t pleased about having stitches.

Soon after, I was allowed to go home. I was pleased about that because I didn’t like it in hospital. When I got home, I asked my mum when I was allowed to go back to school she replied “after you’ve had a couple of days rest.” While I was at home, some family and friends came to see me. It was difficult to understand what they were saying to me, so they had to write it down in a notepad.

I went back to school in a world of complete silence and I missed all the sounds like the buzz of the classroom. It was difficult to accept that I wouldn’t be able to hear anything in school because I wanted to be able to hear what my friends were saying. I could still understand them by lip-reading but it was never the same as hearing their voices.

I was pleased when I was finally going back to the hospital to get my cochlear implant and to get it programmed; dad was off work so he took us to Bradford.

We went to the eye/ear department and met a lady called Lesley who was going to program the cochlear implant. When she had, it wasn’t what I expected – it was a strange sound, but Lesley said it would get clearer after a few days, so I took it in my stride that I could actually hear. It had been about three or four years since I’d heard a sound, so on my way back home while in the car, I listened to every sound I could – the cars whooshing by, the wind…I could now hear!

To be continued...