Running for McKenzie

McKENZIE Joyce-Quinn is exposed to an exciting new world of sound and opportunity as she plays in the garden of her home.

The five-year-old has progressive hearing loss and received a cochlear implant in her left ear last month.

That means she can now clearly hear sounds most of us take for granted – like cicadas on a summer afternoon.

The new technology will also enable her to go swimming with her buddies at school.

‘‘I love swimming and I’m excited to go with my friends,’’ McKenzie says.

A cochlear implant is an electronic device surgically implanted through the scalp directly behind the ear.

McKenzie has received on-going support from The Hearing House in Greenlane since she was fitted with hearing aids at 10 months old.

The organisation helps children with hearing loss to listen and speak with regular audiology appointments and therapy sessions.

It is among charities benefiting from money raised through the annual Ports of Auckland Round the Bays fun run and walk on Sunday.

It will receive $28,000 for new equipment including a tympano- meter and a audiometer – both vital tools in assessing and diagnosing hearing loss.

McKenzie’s mother Donna Quinn will run the 8.4km event and says the organisation has been supportive in her daughter’s development.

‘‘McKenzie will receive audio therapy classes from The Hearing House at school so she can relearn new sounds that come with her cochlear implant.’’

Ms Quinn also has progressive hearing loss, a genetic trait that’s affected four generations of women in her family including her mum Yvonne.

Each woman has a cochlear implant.

McKenzie, who lives in Massey, still wears a hearing aid in her right ear to balance out sounds and keep her nerves stimulated if she decides to get another implant when she’s older.

The Hearing House fundraising manager Mary Jane Boland says early diagnosis is crucial to a child’s development and dence.

‘‘Without the support here, children wouldn’t be able to learn vital language and education skills to take them through to mainstream education,’’ she says.

Ports of Auckland Round the Bays starts at 9.30am.

It’s a joint collaboration between the Auckland Joggers Club and Fairfax Media, owner of the Central Leader and its parent company, Suburban Newspapers.

Registration proceeds will help support other charities including Radio Lollipop, Cystic Fibrosis Auckland Branch, Crohn’s and Colitis New Zealand, Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust, Kidsline and Fairfax First Books.

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