Your donated hearing aids have a real impact

Posted Tuesday April 11, 2023

An anonymous thank you: “To whomever donated this … thank you.”

I’m in my late 40s. For a number of years I’ve had tinnitus in one ear, and over time have also lost some hearing in that ear. It started after the Canterbury earthquakes, and I believe from the stress of that my brain started to trick me that there was a constant ringing in my ear. It’s been something I’ve just lived with since, as I know many other people also do.

My work requires me to sit in offices and meetings for long periods, often in large rooms with several people speaking from distance. It has, at times, been difficult to hear, but I just adapted to my new life, a new way of hearing, and accepted the hearing loss.

Audiology South trialled a hearing aid with me in about 2020, and it made quite a difference. It had a tinnitus masker and was easy to use, but it was also a lot of money to spend on something that wasn’t “essential” when you have a young family to support.

In late 2022 I got a call from Audiology South to say they had placed me on a “donation” list, and someone had been kind enough to donate me a hearing aid. I said thank you very much and hung up. And then I burst into tears at the kindness of another person. It has made a huge difference to me, and I’ll make sure to pay it forward when it’s my turn.