04/03/2026
3 March 2026 |WORLD HEARING DAY
🦻Most people know what a hearing aid looks like.
Very few know what a cochlear implant processor looks like.
Not one of my immediate friends — or people I met along the way — knew what this small device was or what it does.
I started losing my hearing at 15.
It took me 10 years to accept that I needed hearing aids.
Getting used to amplified sound was overwhelming — especially coming from a musical background. Sound wasn’t just louder. It was different. Mechanical. Exhausting.
Then came even more devastating news a few years later:
🦻“Hearing aids are no longer suitable for your hearing loss.”
At the time, my hearing was moderate to severe.
Today, I am completely deaf.
🦻It took me another 10 years to come to terms with getting a cochlear implant.
How I wish I had known then what I can hear today.
Over time, my personality changed.
I went from being extroverted and social to withdrawing. Avoiding gatherings. Avoiding conversations. Avoiding embarrassment.
🦻My career suffered. I was called “slow” and “dumb” because I needed more time to process information while lip reading and piecing together limited sound.
🦻Hearing loss is an invisible disability.
You don’t want to be treated differently.
You hesitate to share your vulnerability.
And sometimes, people make jokes — because they simply don’t understand.
My cochlear implant changed my life.
• My speech improved.
• My confidence returned.
• I can enjoy music again.
• I lead a full, active life.
Sometimes, I even forget that I am deaf.
(And yes — I can sleep through a storm. No, I don’t sleep with the processor on. It charges overnight.)
Communication is one of our most powerful human tools.
When you lose access to it, the emotional impact is enormous — frustration, misunderstanding, isolation, anger. Everyone’s experience is different.
For children with hearing loss, the challenge is even greater. During critical developmental years, not being able to express yourself verbally can shape confidence and identity in profound ways.
Today, I call my cochlear implant — and being deaf — my superpower.
I read lips.
I read body language.
I sense energy in a room.
And I am incredibly grateful for the medical team behind me, and for companies like MED-EL who continue to innovate and support people like me.
You can’t “get your natural hearing back.” While stem cell research and regenerative medicine are advancing, protecting your hearing now is critical.
Protect your ears.
Seek help early.
Ask questions.
And most importantly — create space for understanding.
Awareness changes lives.
MED-EL South Africa MED-EL
