Foxy lady’s cunning plan to find romance
A SINGLETON who is profoundly deaf is hoping to find love on First Dates.
Erin Fox, from Bangor, Co Down, is hoping to be struck by cupids’ arrow on tomorrow night’s RTE2 show starring Mateo Saina and Aice Marr.
The 33-year-old said: “I initially lost my hearing aged nine years old and it was always just a very mild high frequency hearing loss.
“I couldn’t hear a bird singing, babies crying. And you know, like doorbells ringing or the telephone.
“There’s different stages of hearing loss – mild, moderate, severe, profound, and then deafness.
“I went from having a mild hearing loss and then when I started university, over the course of my first year, it just deteriorated very rapidly.
“When I came home from college after that first year, I went to see my audiologist and she said, ‘Your hearing has deteriorated like 25% 25 decibels and that’s why your hearing aids haven’t worked.
“So I’m going to refer you for a cochlear implant’.
“That moment was a huge shock because I was studying journalism. It was always my lifelong dream to be a journalist.”
After three years, Erin got a cochlear implant and challenged herself to walk the Camino.
She added: “And I guess like walking the Camino became very symbolic of my hearing loss journey. It was very much like everyday is really hard.
“But there’s some days where you don’t really feel like you have much energy to keep going. But you just need to get through the day.”
Erin revealed it was her father who urged her to sign up for First Dates.
“I was telling my dad on his face, his face lit up. I mean, he got very excited when he heard it and he’s like, you don’t even have to meet a man on the show – men would see on TV and they’d contact you.
“When I was chatting to some friends and people at work and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, you’d be good on that.’ So I applied.
“I’ve had two long-term relationships and I’ve been single for two years so dating is very new and like since I lost my hearing, like I did really suffer from low selfesteem.
“I had an absolute blast [on First Dates]. Like, even from the lead up to it to
I couldn’t have been matched with a lovelier guy. I had the best time
ERIN FOX ON HER FIRST DATES APPEARANCE
Erin overcame hearing loss & looking for love on First Dates
the date, the producers were excellent. They were really accommodating for any additional disability needs.
“They made sure there were captions at meetings and like even when it comes to when you’re sitting at the bar and waiting for your date to arrive, I knew myself I would be more comfortable sitting at the bar waiting for someone to come in because I can just kind of get used to the noise and my surroundings and relax.
“If it had been the other way around and I had gone in and I hadn’t been used to that noisy environment, I think the conversation would have
been more difficult. But yeah, the whole experience was really, really positive. I had a lot of fun.
“I couldn’t have been matched with a lovelier guy I have to say. I had the best time and if anything, it’s given me a little boost and confidence as well.”
She said she appreciated the show showcasing her deafness to give
awareness to others. This really mattered to me, because when I was losing my hearing at 19 when it was getting worse, I wanted to meet other people that had maybe gone through similar experiences.
I wanted to know same loss that I did.”
if they felt the