Cochlear implant life-changing
Before getting his cochlear implant, Taranaki man Bruce Phillips had never heard his dog Sadie.
Phillips’ deafness started about 20 years ago with a ringing in his ears, then he struggled to hear different sounds, before becoming profoundly deaf 10 years ago.
He had been on the waiting list for the implant for three years before receiving it in November.
‘‘It’s life-changing and a blessing – bloody marvellous really,’’ the 68-year-old retired greenkeeper said.
‘‘I was home and I took my dog Sadie for a walk, she’s 10 years old, and I had never heard her, and I could hear her claws tap tapping along the path.’’
In last year’s Budget, the Government allocated an extra $28 million over four years for adult cochlear implants.
The Southern Cochlear Implant Programme has performed 36 adult operations since July 2021 and is on its way to completing its allocation of 60.
When Phillips, from Patea, was deaf he said he struggled socially, unable to understand his family and friends.
Now he is back socialising at his bowling club and golf course, and talking to his three sons and three young grandchildren on the phone.
He is learning to adjust to his cochlear implant every day and has regular follow-up sessions with the programme’s postimplant rehabilitation service.
‘‘When the team switched my implant on human voices sounded like the Daleks on Doctor Who
– really echo-ey, and high and squeaky – but I didn’t mind as I could hear again.
‘‘I came out of the building and I could hear traffic noise, which I hadn’t heard for 18 years, and immediately I was trying to work out the bird sounds – was that a sparrow, a starling, or a myna bird?’’