Cochlear implants end world of silence

From: Maitland Mercury, Australia - Apr 22, 2003

For most of their young lives William Linde and Joshua Redding have lived in silence.

But now, thanks to the invention of the cochlear implant, their world is filled with sound.

William, 2, received his implant in July last year while Joshua, now three, received his implant in November 2001.

Today, both boys are progressing in leaps and bounds.

Joshua, of Metford, was born at just 23 weeks gestation and was diagnosed with hearing problems at birth.

"I'll never forget the day he first started to hear, he just smiled and clapped his little hands and I just sat there and cried . . . it was so amazing," Joshua's mother, Megan, said.

William, on the other hand, was born with some hearing but it gradually deteriorated and before the transplant he was profoundly deaf.

Ms Linde and Ms Redding are now rallying together to raise money for their sons' school in a bid to provide the centre with a visual smoke detector.

Their main project will be a ball to be held late next month.

"We're hoping to raise enough money to install a smoke detector system for St Dominic's Centre for Hearing Impaired Children at Mayfield while also supporting the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre," Ms Linde, of Thornton, said. "We really need to do all we can to help these children because the number of children enrolled at the school is growing because hearing defects are being picked up a lot sooner, even from birth."

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