Neil and Helen Robinson have both been deaf since they were born and, until now, have communicated through sign language, lip reading and failed attempts at using hearing aids
AN emotional video has showed a deaf couple getting to hear each other's voices for the first time in 12 years of marriage.
Neil and Helen Robinson have both been deaf since they were born and, until now, have communicated through sign language, lip reading and failed attempts at using hearing aids.
But they have become the first-ever couple to receive cochlear implants at the University of Southampton Audiology Implant Service (USAIS).
The pair underwent surgery to implant tiny electrodes in their skulls and are now starting to hear for the first time ever.
Now, the amazing moment that Neil and Helen’s life-changing devices were first switched has been captured on film.
At first, Neil, 50, joked that he didn't like the sound of Helen’s voice.
He went on to say: "I am getting used to it now.
“It felt incredible, in a happy way. It felt really emotional."
Astonishingly, Neil reckons his new-found hearing could have even saved his life - after he stepped out of the way of an oncoming car after hearing it before he saw it.
The couple, who live near Salisbury, Wiltshire, were both born deaf due to their mothers contracting rubella during pregnancy.
Despite not being able to hear, the couple have lived full and happy lives - they have raised a son and Neil is an Assistant Curate at Salisbury Cathedral.
Helen, 54, tried for two years to persuade her husband to get an implant but it was only after frustrated attempts with hearing aids that he finally agreed.
They first underwent surgery by Tim Mitchell, a consultant Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon at the Nuffield Health Wessex Hospital in Eastleigh, Hampshire.
Cochlear implants consist of two parts which sit on the inside and outside of the skull just above the ear and are joined by a magnet.
Information from the processor on the outside of the skull is sent to 16 electrodes on the inside, which then send electrical pulses to the brain.
The couple’s implants were switched on at the centre in January and then tested with sounds including a beating drum and a musical triangle.
In the heart-warming clip, Paul is filmed fighting back the tears as he hears for the first time in his life.
The implants will now have to be fine-tuned and it is not clear by how much hearing their hearing will eventually improve.
USAIS has fitted 1,000 of the gadgets since opening in 1990 but this marks the first time they have been supplied to a couple.
Cochlear implants were originally only thought to only benefit people who had recent lost their hearing and already had speech and language skills.
But Dr Mary Grasmeder says that the clever devices are increasingly being used to treat people who have been deaf since birth.
She said: "People who have been deaf for some time don't have the same expectation of sound will be like compared with someone who has just lost their hearing.
"Because their auditory system is not so well developed it will be more difficult for them to process the information and to understand it."
