Special Olympics Uganda Unified Sports Partner Alice Nalubega, 14, after receiving a hearing aid, hears for the first time in her life. She will need to learn how to speak her native language as she has never heard the words spoken before. (Photo by Stephen Corbin)
Special Olympics Turkmenistan athlete Ashir Yazmanedov brought his battered collection of hearing aids to Healthy Hearing; none of them worked. He received a new hearing aid the same day he visited the venue. (Photo by Stephen Corbin)
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The Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® venue is a boisterous place, with the sounds of many languages being spoken. It was a different story at the Healthy Hearing station though, at least at first. Some of the athletes who visited came from a silent world; some haven’t heard voices in years and for some, it’s been a lifetime. Imagine the athletes’ joy when audiologists were able to restore the gift of hearing.
Special Olympics Turkmenistan athlete Ashir Yazmanedov, 19, came to the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Japan to play floor hockey. He was more successful than he could have imagined. Not only did he win a gold medal, but he left with a new behind-the-ear hearing aid, so that next time he competes, he’ll hear everyone cheering for him. Yazmanedov arrived at the Games wearing a very battered hearing aid he had used for seven years. It was the only one he had, and he could hear the words of his language—just barely. Fitted with a Godisa BTE 550 hearing aid generously donated by this new hearing aid company in Botswana, he walked out of the Special Olympics Healthy Hearing venue with a broad smile. Through his coach, Tofik Iskanderov, Yazmanedov told the group clustered around him, “All sounds—I like you!”
Ka Fai Wong of Special Olympics Macau had a moderate to severe bilateral (both ears) hearing loss that his family was aware of, but they could not afford even one hearing aid. He was jubilant when audiologists fitted him with two new hearing aids.
Special Olympics snowboarder Kent Tarno, 31, from North Dakota (USA) had a hearing aid, but the earmold didn’t fit well, and the battery was dead. He was eager to hear the conversations of all the new friends he’d made from around the world. When he left with a new battery and advice on how to get a new earmold when he gets back home, Tarno gave high-fives to his friends in Healthy Hearing, announcing “Now I can hear!”
Equally excited was a 17-year-old athlete from Special Olympics Ecuador who received a new hearing aid. He had never worn one before and was amazed at the many voices he heard for the first time. Alice Nalubega, a 14-year-old Unified Sports® partner from Uganda, who could sign and read but had never heard the sounds of her language, was fitted with two hearing aids. The Headmaster of her school, Kaswara Godwin from Kampala, was there as she received her first pair of hearing aids. Everyone was euphoric!
Several other athletes with hearing aids received new tubing and batteries for their hearing aids—and left with renewed energy to enjoy the sights and sounds of World Winter Games.
By Judy Montgomery, Global Clinical Coordinator, Healthy Hearing
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