PHOTOS BY CHUCK LIDDY - cliddy@newsobserver.com
Madison Jackson, 5, of Apex, left, and Marina Sandy, 7, of Zebulon react as a Durham Bulls player hits a home run. The girls, who are hearing impaired, were on a group trip sponsored by a cochlear implant company.
DURHAM -- Stuart Nelson of Chapel Hill lost his hearing 22 years ago, after a dizzy spell overtook him while he was on a business trip.
Nelson, a life insurance salesman, was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, an inner-ear disorder. His right ear became completely deaf, while he could hear just a little out of his left.
But Wednesday afternoon, Nelson enjoyed hearing all the sounds of a Durham Bulls baseball game. He and a group of children, all of whom now have hearing implants, took part in an event to raise awareness about hearing impairment.
North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services says hearing loss in the state will "more than double" in the next 20 years as the population ages. That's why the Durham Bulls partnered with hearing-implant company Cochlear Americas for the activities Wednesday.
The children with the implants sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch, as the crowd in the stands joined in.
Nelson said his hearing loss initially made him feel like a stranger in his own household. He could sometimes hear people's voices but not comprehend them. He had to ask his wife, Glenda, to write words on a piece of paper. His daughter, Lynnette, spoke too fast, and he had to ask her to slow down.
He sensed people's impatience when he kept asking them to repeat themselves. It hurt even more when they said, "Oh, just never mind."
"You became a recluse," Nelson said.
He did. He stopped going to restaurants and concerts. He couldn't even find solace in his favorite music - '50s and '60s country.
Implant's improvements
Nelson said his life took a dramatic turn when his doctor at UNC Health Care recommended that he get hearing implants in 2009. An implant is essentially a computer the size of doughnut hole that wires into the cochlea. Unlike hearing aids, Nelson's implants have a remote control that allow him to block outdoor noise or to help him concentrate on music.
Now, Nelson doesn't have to read closed captioning when he watches TV. He can plug in his iPod and listen to Jim Reeves and Johnny Cash. A woodwork enthusiast, Nelson feels safer because he can hear the sound of a table saw when he works.
And nothing, he said, can compare with hearing the laughter of his granddaughter Meredith, 7, and grandson Jason, 4.
"The greatest thrill is I'm able to talk, understand and be a part of my grandchildren's life," Nelson, 69, said. "My grandchildren are the center of my life."
Hearing loss does not just affect adults. Five-year-old Ian Fan of Raleigh showed no symptoms of deafness when he was born, said his mother, Gloria. But she began to have suspicions as her son grew. When he was 12 months old, she noticed that Ian didn't even look at her when she was humming a theme song from "The Little Mermaid." And then there were the sounds he was making.
"When he was a baby, he'd scream so much," Fan said. "We thought he'd be a great orator." It later became obvious to the Fans that Ian simply couldn't hear himself as he screamed.
Ian lost all of his hearing by age 2. The doctors still don't know the cause of his deafness.
Now, with his implants, Ian can do what other children his age take for granted, such as enjoying a baseball game, his mother said.
With his hands on the rail at the Sky Box suite on Wednesday, Ian watched the Bulls game intently.
"He appreciates things in life much more now," Fan said. "He can be normal."
