It's been a month since English woman Joanne Milne, 39, was fitted with cochlear implants, though the life-changing device has only just been switched on. A video of Milne hearing for the first time has now gone viral, spreading the warm and fuzzy feeling to everyone with a heart and an Internet connection.
Milne has been deaf since birth, and in her 20s also began to experience deteriorating vision due to Usher Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that results from the mutation of any one of ten genes. Usher Syndrome is a leading cause of deafblindness, a condition that impedes sufferers' means of communication and quality of life.
The video was filmed on a camera phone by Milne's friend Tremayne Crossley, and depicts Milne hearing her nurse, Louise Craddock, reciting the days of the week. "It might be a bit overwhelming at first," Craddock warns as Louise bursts into tears. "It's a big, big, life-changing day today!" Craddock reassures her. Milne's emotional sobbing doesn't stop, however, with the newly-hearing woman beaming through the tears.
"The switch-on was the most emotional and overwhelming experience of my life, and I'm still in shock now," Milne said to BBC News. "The first day everybody sounded robotic, and I have to learn to recognize what these sounds are as I build a sound library in my brain."
"I could hear what she was saying and it was amazing," she continued. "It's just amazing and emotional to hear my family's voices because as somebody who is deaf everybody has sounded the same to me."
Cochlear implants cannot restore hearing fully, but can create the sense of sound to profoundly deaf people. The technology includes surgically implanting electronic devices into the inner ear to process and provide sound signals to the brain. They differ from hearing aids, which simply amplify sound, in that they stimulate audio reception in people who's damaged hair cells would otherwise limit them from experiencing the sensation of sound.
Milne also tweeted to the BBC's Lauren Laverne that the video appeared to be spreading awareness of Usher Syndrome.
@laurenlaverne Yes..and raising awareness of Usher is amazing. I hope it inspires other deafblind people to have cochlear implants fitted :)
— Jo Milne (@jomilne10) March 27, 2014
The following video first appeared on The Telegraph website.
