Durban - On Christmas morning, local fireman Claude Conradie will wake up to the sound of birds and the rustling of the trees.
It will be a feeling of renewed joy because, for the last 10 years, the 34-year-old has experienced ongoing difficulty with his hearing.
This week he was fitted with new, state-of-the art hearing aids.
Before becoming a firefighter, Conradie was working at an industrial site when he was involved in an accident which tore both his ears off and fractured his skull.
He spent a month in hospital and a number of months recovering from the shocking accident, so the resulting ringing in his ears appeared to be the least of his problems.
“I thought I had tinnitus or possible blood pressure problems and spent a lot of time researching tinnitus on the internet. Fortunately my job is physical so I was not affected in my working life, but there was a growing effect on my social life because I started to battle to hear conversations in crowded places. I didn’t interact too much because I didn’t want to have to ask people to repeat themselves,” he said.
He started avoiding getting into conversations altogether, sitting on the perimeter of social occasions. He said he would often watch television with family or friends and not understand a word.
“My family has been very good about it and they would repeat themselves. But recently we went to a braai and a friend messaged me afterwards saying I should see a hearing specialist,” he said.
He took the advice and consulted uMhlanga-based clinical audiologist Gillian Te Brugge, who said Conradie’s medical aid did not cover hearing aids.
“I was shocked and saddened that Claude had been struggling with such hearing loss for 10 years and was determined to find some help for him, so I approached a medical hearing company to see if they could assist in any way. He is a firefighter and spends his life helping the community,” said Te Brugge.
She said the quality of life of people suffering from hearing loss could be severely affected.
“It becomes difficult with background noise such as at social gatherings and catching a joke when everyone else is laughing, or even hearing the phone ring. A person can tend to withdraw and even become depressed,” she said.
Hearing aid company, Sivantos, came to the rescue, donating Siemens' top of the range hearing aids
Conradie said: “I had a trial fitting and afterwards, the first sound I heard was my own voice, which was very loud.
“Then I heard birds chirping and I realised what I had been missing out on.
“The hearing aids were fitted on Wednesday and they have made such a massive difference. In fact I can hear that my car has all sorts of rattles when I thought it was running so smoothly.”
Sivantos spokeswoman Ananda Naude, said: “We are very happy to invest in someone who is serving and protecting our communities. He clearly has a passion and commitment to his job and we appreciate everything our firefighters do for us, especially at this time of year,” said Naude.