The things we see as normal are magical for some others.
Joanne Milne was born blind and in her mid-20s the condition claimed her sight. Being deaf and blind isn’t a pleasant condition.
After 40 years of total silence in the ears, Milne hears for the first time after undergoing implants.
As she heard her doctor recite the days of the week, she was overwhelmed with emotion, fighting back tears and gasping to catch her breath.
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Overwhelming: These pictures show the moment Joanne Milne’s cochlear implants were switched on, allowing her to hear for the first time.
Lifetime of silence: Ms Milne was born with Usher Syndrome, leaving her deaf since birth. Last month the 40-year-old underwent an operation to have cochlear implants fitted (pictured).
Daily Mail reports:
But last month Ms Milne underwent a life-changing operation to fit cochlear implants.
Following the procedure, she faced a four-week wait for medics to switch on the implants to see if the operation had been a success.
Hearing for first time, a video capturing the switch-on shows Ms Milne breaking down as she tells her doctor her own voice sounds ‘very, very strange’, before adding: ‘Wow, it is absolutely amazing.’
The doctor tells the 40-year-old, from Gateshead: ‘It is a big, big, life-changing day.
‘It is such a huge thing you have just achieved, you should be really proud of yourself.’
Ms Milne said the switch-on has been the ‘most emotional and overwhelming experience’ of her life.
She said: ‘I’m still in shock now. I have to learn to recognise what these sounds are as I build a sound library in my brain.
‘Hearing things for the first time is so emotional from the ping of a light switch to running water.
Emotional: The 40-year-old burst into tears as her doctor recited the days of the week, and urged her to listen to her own voice for the first time.
Inspiring: Ms Milne, who has helped others suffering Usher Syndrome through her work with the charity Sense, also lost her sight to the condition in her mid-20s.
‘I can’t stop crying and I can already foresee how it’s going to be life changing.’
‘I’m so happy. Over the last 48 hours hearing someone laughing behind me, the birds twittering and just being with friends… they didn’t have to tap my arm to get my attention which a massive leap.’
Since she was diagnosed as deaf, Ms Milne has made it her mission to mentor others living with Usher Syndrome.
She added: ‘Being deaf was just who I was. Unfortunately when I became registered blind things changed dramatically and for the first time being deaf became increasingly difficult.’
The breathtaking moment Ms Milne’s implants were switched on was captured on video and shared by Ms Milne’s friend Tremayne Crossley.
Moved by her courage Mr Crossley applied for Ms Milne to appear on DJ Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6music radio feature Memory Tape.
His application said: ‘Jo has recently had a bilateral cochlear implant in an attempt to restore her hearing, this is being gradually switched on over five sessions.
