|
Seven-year-old Austin Middleton got the new year off to a great start when he underwent cochlear implant surgery on 7 January 2009.
Austin’s hearing was fine until May last year when he fell ill with severe meningitis, which left him completely deaf in both ears.
He was treated at Coronation Hospital, where the speech therapist identified that he would be a good candidate for a cochlear implant and referred his godmother, Yvonne Nortje to Hear for Life.
Dr Hockman, who assessed Austin and performed the operation, agreed that he was an ideal candidate for the implant, “Unlike children who are born deaf, Austin could hear before the meningitis, so in a way, the surgery merely re-activated something that was already there.”
For Yvonne, the surgery came just in time, “According to the therapist who analysed him before the operation, his speech hadn’t deteriorated badly, but for those of us who know him well, there was a difference. “I can’t wait for the implant to be turned on at the end of January so that he can go back to school, and carry on learning.”
Press release archives- click here
|
