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December 26, 2006
Deaf boy hears thanks to pioneering surgery
Jonathon Vickers, from Bamber Bridge, is one of the first children to undergo a new brain stem operation.
He was 18 months old when he was diagnosed after failing several hearing tests and was referred to a specialist at Manchester Children's Hospital.
His mother, Yvonne, 28, said: "We didn't really know how deaf he was or why.
"We were originally sent for a cochlea implant but the MRI scan showed he had no hearing nerve.
"We got our hopes up Jonathon would be able to hear and it came back he couldn't."
The Vickers family then received information about a new auditory stem implant.
The operation is usually performed on adults when there are tumours on the hearing nerve.
Mrs Vickers, who is married to Eric, 32, added: "It had never been done on a child before in Great Britain. It was 50-50 whether it would succeed.
"It was the hardest decision we've had to make in our lives."
Jonathon now has to wear a microphone over his ear which send sounds to a processor on a magnet on the outside of his head.
He also has a magnet on the inside of his head which send sounds to the brain stem. He is now beginning to hear sounds and enjoys playing with his three brothers, Michael, eight, Ellis, two, and Joshua, nine months.
http://www.lep.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1945058
Posted by 4HL on December 26, 2006 7:29 AM
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