Des’s life transformed thanks to Hidden Hearing nomination
DES O’SULLIVAN was unable to hear properly for years but having been nominated for a Hidden Hearing aid his life has been transformed.
Des, 51, from Foulksmills, has been given a set of hearing aids worth €4,700 having been nominated by Wexford town based Hidden Hearing audiologist Yvonne Doyle through the company’s ‘Campaign for Better Hearing’.
Free hearing testing is available in over 75 state-of-theart Hidden Hearing clinics throughout Ireland, including in Wexford.
The Campaign for Better Hearing’s Give Back Programme was launched earlier this year by proud campaign supporters Daniel O’Donnell and Majella O’Donnell. The campaign aims to improve the hearing health of the communities around the various Hidden Hearing branches nationwide. Around 86 per cent of hearing loss in Ireland is untreated, for various reasons; an element of which is the perceived stigma at wearing a hearing device.
The Give Back Programme, which is an integral part of The Campaign for Better Hearing sees all branches of Hidden Hearing nominate a member of the community to get a free hearing device fitted as the cost can be prohibitive for some people.
Des has an established mixed conductive and sensorineural loss and was prescribed NHS hearing aids while living in the UK but didn’t get on at all well with them and found them uncomfortable fitting, amplifying everything but without any clarity. He attended Hidden Hearing with his friend in February and it quickly became obvious to Yvonne that Des uses humour as a way of dealing with his hearing loss.
Des said suffering from acute hearing loss impacted greatly on his social and working life. ‘I can hear so much better now. Before I’d miss things in conversations and when you missed something important it wouldn’t be great. I learned to lip read but now I that I have 50 per cent better hearing I don’t have to as much.’
Des thanked Yvonne for nominating him, saying having excellent quality hearing aids has transformed his life.
Des is caring for his mother Margaret and farming. He feels far more confident in public now and is not intimidated in crowds.
More information on the The Give Back Programme is available on www.hiddenhearing.ie or www.campaignforbetterhearing.ie.
You can also call 1890 804050 to learn more about the Campaign for Better Hearing.