Magical moment as deaf toddler first discovers wonder of sound
LITTLE Imbo Fufu’s face lit up with sheer wonder as he heard sound for the first time yesterday, after his cochlear implant was switched on.
A video taken in his Mdantsane home shows Imbo building a puzzle with his mom.
Somebody in the background starts talking and as the sound hits his mind, the twoyear-old’s face shows shock.
Then his eyes light up and an incredible smile stretches across his face.
This is only the start of a new road for Imbo and his doting mother, Siphokazi Fufu.
Not being able to hear language has meant he has not learned to speak.
That will come now, and his mother cannot wait to hear him say the magic word: “Mama”.
Imbo was first diagnosed with a hearing impairment in both ears when he was nine months old.
Last month, he went under the knife for hours at Frere Hospital where he received an electronic cochlear implant.
The device replaces the function of the damaged inner ear.
Unlike hearing aids, which amplify sound, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear and send sound signals to the brain.
Part of the device sits on the outside of the ear.
Fufu said: “I am so happy to see him respond to sound. He is smart and I know he will soon be able to talk and I cannot wait to hear him say ‘mama’.”
She said she noticed very early that there was something wrong with his hearing .
“He did not respond unless you touched him,” Fufu said.
Fufu is unemployed but said she had done her best to have Imbo attend school at the Carel du Toit Centre.
She said they depended on Imbo’s R1 600 child grant, from which she paid R750 to transport him to school, R400 on school fees and the rest on nappies, food and other basics.
“The school fees are R1 050 but they gave me a discount.”
Frere Hospital’s audiologist Adri Schlitchting said Imbo would later receive speech therapy from the hospital.
Schlitchting said the device’s outside battery had to be replaced, for about R3 000, every two years and the outer device every three years at a cost of R135 000.
Anyone wanting to assist Imbo can contact the school on (043) 742-1420