In India four out of hundred children are born with hearing loss. Regrettably many cases are not detected and the child’s lack of response to sound is misinterpreted as low IQ.
MONICA FERNANDES
Like me, the majority of you would be able to see the print of this magazine and feel its glossy surface. We are able to hear our favourite song and perhaps sing it. Furthermore, we are able to enjoy the fragrance of a mogra flower and relish the taste of a well preparedbhelpuri. The gift of our five senses is something we take for granted.
A teacher once asked her class to name the Seven Wonders of the World. Pat came the usual answers of architectural marvels created by man. One bright little girl, however, answered that the wonders were God’s generous gifts of love, laughter and the five senses including that of hearing. For those who are profoundly deaf from birth and their families, hearing opens shut doors to endless possibilities of learning and activity once out of their reach. During these days of online studies, a deaf child is severely disadvantaged. The gift of hearing is indeed one of the seven wonders. Hence the invention of the cochlear implant is indeed a miracle.
The miracle workers at Holy Family Hospital (HFH), Bandra, Mumbai are none other than Dr. Chris de Souza, MS, DORL, DNB, FACS, FRCS, and his team of ENT surgeons, audiologists, a speech therapist, a social worker, a co-ordinator and the nuns of HFH who have extended full support to this noble endeavour. Dr. Chris and his team received a papal blessing dated 11th December 2020 for their work in restoring the hearing of around 200 patients, mainly poor and marginalized children.
The cochlear implant program at HFH is open to all, irrespective of community, location in India and income group. Each cochlear implant, including training, costs around
Rs. 8 lakhs. Generous donors such as Salman Khan, Ratan Tata, and other smaller donors have enabled these operations to take place on underprivileged children. On his part, Dr. Chris waives his charges. A gurdwara has offered its services to provide food and accommodation for Rs. 100 a day for those hailing from other parts of the country. Generous donors have pitched in to defray these nominal costs for those who cannot afford them.
The cochlear implant is a device that directly stimulates the auditory nerve endings through electrical impulses conveyed through tiny wires. It consists of two units. The external unit is outside the ear. Its function is to collect sound waves through a microphone and transmit them digitally to the implant which is an internal device that bypasses the damaged portion of the inner ear. After the operation, extensive speech training has to be imparted to the recipients.
In India four out of hundred children are born with hearing loss. Regrettably many cases are not detected and the child’s lack of response to sound is misinterpreted as low IQ. Experts say that it is better to operate on the child at an earlier age as a child who cannot hear is unable to learn to talk and it becomes a challenge to teach the child. To address this issue, HFH has
an audiology department which is housed in a cheerful room with attractive paintings. It has state of the art equipment that facilitates the very accurate evaluation of the hearing of new born children. This is needed because very small children cannot speak and are therefore unable to tell anyone if they can hear or not.
I was privileged to be invited to a program for children who have received implants and their parents on 3rd March 2020 which is International Hearing Day hosted by HFH . After brief talks parents of children who have received cochlear transplants were invited to speak briefly. The beaming mother of MohdAzam had good reason to call Dr. Chris the ‘Godfather’ of deaf children. Mohd was treated as a Special child prior to the implant. He is now going to a normal school where he is progressing well. The cochlear implant has enabled Radhika to pursue Bharat Natyam. I met Radhika’s mother and she proudly told me that Radhikawill be performing shortly in Karnataka. The excitement on the faces of the young recipients of the implants was palpable as they came forward with their parents to be felicitated. The children then performed for us. They joyfully danced, sang
and recited poems for those present. What a delightful way of celebrating the gift of sound!
It is not only children who have benefited from cochlear implant. Implants have been successfully conducted on older patients as well. This is, however, more prevalent in the West and is yet to catch on in India. At the function Dr. Chris spoke about a young lady who was severely hearing impaired. This lady, the sole bread winner of her family, was about to lose her job when she started getting deaf. She went through with the cochlear implant and was thus able to save her job.
The cochlear implant unit has been functioning throughout the pandemic.
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