The two-year-old, who has Down's syndrome, can hear for the first time after being fitted with the device. Before it was fitted, Alex was profoundly deaf in his left ear and had poor hearing in his right.

His mum Joanne, from Prestbury, Cheltenham, said: "It has transformed his life. It has also improved his speech and language skills.

"It has been a massive change. As soon as we put it on him his face lit up."

The soft band bone anchored hearing aid was recommended by a specialist at Manchester Children's Hospital and fitted at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Joanne said: "It was quite an emotional moment when we put it on him. It's quite a serious thing not being able to access the hearing world for any child with a hearing impairment.

"He went around and just explored everything that he had already explored. He wanted to do it all again. It opened up his world."

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