« Foxy Brown deaf for six months | Main | Montreal band helps hearing-impaired hear music »
December 16, 2005
San Marcos woman receives the gift of sound
For more than five decades, Ruth Penny has watched the world in near-total silence. At 71, the San Marcos resident never imagined that would change, until she got a recent phone call from her audiology center. The caller told her she had won an essay contest ---- the grand prize was a state of the art hearing device that would allow her to hear clearly for the rest of her life.
"I couldn't believe it," said Penny, who has lost more than 70 percent of her hearing in both ears."I've never won anything, not even playing cards."
Penny entered the "Hearing 4 the Holidays" essay contest put on by Palomar Pomerado Health Center after seeing a newspaper ad.
"Something inside told me I needed to do this," said Penny, who has been depending on a grocery store hearing aid for the last 10 years.
The contest was the first of its kind put on by the health center, and required participants to write an essay about their struggles with hearing loss and why they felt they were deserving of one of the top high tech hearing devices on the market.
More than 50 people from throughout the county entered, said David Illich, chief of audiology and hearing services at Palomar Pomerado Health Center, who came up with the idea for the contest.
"Communication is the most basic instinct of man," Illich said Thursday, in his Poway office. "When you can't hear you lose life. There is no greater joy than giving someone that back."
Three judges from North County community organizations were in charge of picking a winner to receive the Widex Diva hearing device, which Illich said is worth more than $3,000.
By North County Times
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/12/16/tomorrow/15_44_3612_15_05.txt
Posted by 4HL on December 16, 2005 8:54 AM
Send this article to a friend