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Implants open a world of sounds
Thursday, September 20, 2012 • Mark Peters
MENINGOCOCCAL meningitis made Christoffer Fraser dangerously ill when he was 16 months old.

He survived the life-threatening illness but it left him completely deaf.

“He was fit and healthy until then,” says his mum Elmarie Fraser.

“But he was so young. He could only say a few words before he got sick.”

Two months after his illness, Christoffer’s deafness was remedied with bilateral cochlea implants.

Sometimes referred to as bionic ear, the cochlear implant is a surgically-implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound in patients who are deaf due to damage to sensory hair cells in their cochlea.

The cochlea is the spiral canal of the internal ear.

An external speech processor, which looks like a big hearing aid, converts sound into a digital signal which is sent to an internal implant. Electrodes stimulate the hearing nerve, the brain perceives signals and the wearer hears sound.

Cochlear implants differ from hearing aids in that less sound information is received and processed by the brain, so the quality of sound is different from natural hearing — but is enough to allow understanding of speech.

Three weeks after Christoffer received his implants, the incisions behind his ears healed, and he was able to wear his processor.

His hearing has improved every day since then, says his mum.

Four years later, he is a thriving Year 2 student at St Mary’s primary school.

“He has to work harder than kids with normal hearing, but he’s above average, he’s bilingual — he speaks Afrikaans and English — and he is very active.

“He had to learn to walk again and he’s got a bit of a balance issue because of the deafness.

“He’s doing gymnastics to keep fit and help his balance.

“He can swim but, because he’s deaf in the water, he has got a special instructor who can help him. He just needs to perfect his style.”

• Deaf awareness week begins on Monday and but will begin tomorrow with LOUD shirt day.

People are encouraged to wear particularly vibrant, tropical or colourful shirts for the day.

The style of shirt does not matter. It just has to be LOUD.
THRIVING WITH IMPLANTS: Despite a life-threatening illness that resulted in profound deafness, Christoffer Fraser is a thriving, bilingual, Year 2 student, thanks to bilateral cochlea implants that have helped him hear again, says his proud mum, Elmarie Fraser. Picture by Paul Rickard
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