Miss-Delectable
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Child hit by meniningitis five times and left deaf can hear again thanks to computer-activated implants - mirror.co.uk
A BOY who survived five bouts of meningitis but was left deaf can now hear for the first time in years thanks to computer-activated implants.
Troy Probert, seven, broke his skull as a toddler and was left prone to the deadly illness, which robbed him of his hearing.
But the little fighter – a green belt in karate – is enjoying the sound of his mum’s voice again after his *cochlear implants were switched on.
Delighted mum Nicola, 32, said: “They activated the implants from a computer. When they switched it on his face lit up. It was like a miracle.
“He said my voice sounded like music – like the beating of a drum.
“He kept laughing and saying, ‘Talk to me mummy – I can hear you’.”
Housewife Nicola, of Gloucester, added: “He has since spent loads of time in the garden, stopping to listen to every new sound, from the dog barking to his brothers laughing.”
Troy fell from a bunk bed ladder and fractured his skull aged two.
He was left deaf in his left ear and at risk of bacterial meningitis from his brain fluid becoming infected.
The illness struck within a month and a second attack took most of the hearing from his right ear.
He learnt to lip read but had to survive a third bout soon after.
Neurosurgeons at The Hayes Hospital in Bristol carried out a temporal craniotomy on Troy in 2007 to try to mend the fracture.
But he was hit by meningitis twice more in 2008 – although it has not returned since. So Nicola and husband Darren, 40, decided he should have the implants fitted at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in July.
Nicola – also mum to Ross, 11, and two-year-old Evan – added: “I can’t urge parents enough to keep an eye out for meningitis. In many ways Troy was one of the lucky ones.”
A Meningitis Trust spokesman said: “Contracting and surviving meningitis as many times as Troy has is extremely rare. He’s obviously *determined.”
A BOY who survived five bouts of meningitis but was left deaf can now hear for the first time in years thanks to computer-activated implants.
Troy Probert, seven, broke his skull as a toddler and was left prone to the deadly illness, which robbed him of his hearing.
But the little fighter – a green belt in karate – is enjoying the sound of his mum’s voice again after his *cochlear implants were switched on.
Delighted mum Nicola, 32, said: “They activated the implants from a computer. When they switched it on his face lit up. It was like a miracle.
“He said my voice sounded like music – like the beating of a drum.
“He kept laughing and saying, ‘Talk to me mummy – I can hear you’.”
Housewife Nicola, of Gloucester, added: “He has since spent loads of time in the garden, stopping to listen to every new sound, from the dog barking to his brothers laughing.”
Troy fell from a bunk bed ladder and fractured his skull aged two.
He was left deaf in his left ear and at risk of bacterial meningitis from his brain fluid becoming infected.
The illness struck within a month and a second attack took most of the hearing from his right ear.
He learnt to lip read but had to survive a third bout soon after.
Neurosurgeons at The Hayes Hospital in Bristol carried out a temporal craniotomy on Troy in 2007 to try to mend the fracture.
But he was hit by meningitis twice more in 2008 – although it has not returned since. So Nicola and husband Darren, 40, decided he should have the implants fitted at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in July.
Nicola – also mum to Ross, 11, and two-year-old Evan – added: “I can’t urge parents enough to keep an eye out for meningitis. In many ways Troy was one of the lucky ones.”
A Meningitis Trust spokesman said: “Contracting and surviving meningitis as many times as Troy has is extremely rare. He’s obviously *determined.”
