Hearing birds chirping, rain falling on a roof or even your children playing with the dog is an everyday experience for a lot of people. But for Peter Gunness, hearing these things for the first time has been like discovering a new world.
Born profoundly deaf with just six percent hearing, the 42-year-old was one of the first in Australia to receive Cochlear’s new Nucleus 5 system.
The world’s thinnest and strongest cochlear implant, the Nucleus 5 optimises sound quality in a variety of listening environments with two tiny, hi-tech microphones that capture sound in all directions.
Mr Gunness said when the implant was switched on just before Christmas his life changed forever.
“Every day is a new sound, you never really get over it,” he said.
“Just to be able to hear the birds singing or rainfall is amazing.
“Right now I am able to hear my son playing with the dog and it’s great.”
Mr Gunness said the cochlear implant has had a major, and at times humorous, impact on his family life.
“I have always been attracted to women with loud voices so basically when I had it switched on I thought, ‘Gee, my wife is loud’ and I have to tell her not to shout. It was quite funny,” he said.
“I’m also always asking her what certain sounds are, and she would say, ‘That’s the cat’, and I said, ‘Oh, goodness, let’s get rid of it’.
“But also just being able to hear my children speak about their day at school has been incredible.”
As seen on The Manly Daily.
Read more about the Nucleus 5, here.
Hearing birds chirping, rain falling on a roof or even your children playing with the dog is an everyday experience for a lot of people. But for Peter Gunness, hearing these things for the first time has been like discovering a new world.
Born profoundly deaf with just six percent hearing, the 42-year-old was one of the first in Australia to receive Cochlear’s new Nucleus 5 system.
The world’s thinnest and strongest cochlear implant, the Nucleus 5 optimises sound quality in a variety of listening environments with two tiny, hi-tech microphones that capture sound in all directions.
Mr Gunness said when the implant was switched on just before Christmas his life changed forever.
“Every day is a new sound, you never really get over it,” he said.
“Just to be able to hear the birds singing or rainfall is amazing.
“Right now I am able to hear my son playing with the dog and it’s great.”
Mr Gunness said the cochlear implant has had a major, and at times humorous, impact on his family life.
“I have always been attracted to women with loud voices so basically when I had it switched on I thought, ‘Gee, my wife is loud’ and I have to tell her not to shout. It was quite funny,” he said.
“I’m also always asking her what certain sounds are, and she would say, ‘That’s the cat’, and I said, ‘Oh, goodness, let’s get rid of it’.
“But also just being able to hear my children speak about their day at school has been incredible.”
As seen on The Manly Daily.
Read more about the Nucleus 5, here.