- The 30-year-old Matildas goalkeeper has been reading his teammates’ lips
- The closer called the new adjustment a “whole new world.”
Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has confirmed she will trial the use of headphones on the pitch as anticipation builds for the Paris Olympics in July.
The 30-year-old, who was diagnosed with hearing loss by a London specialist in April last year, decided to “try to get used to” the devices.
“I’ve started training with them for a while now, for a couple of days during the week, just to see what it’s like and try to get used to them,” said the West Ham goalkeeper. News Corporation.
‘I feel like I probably have a harder time without them now that I don’t have them on than I did before.
“To be honest, it’s a whole new world… it’s definitely been a big adjustment, but I’m grateful.”
Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has confirmed she will trial the use of headphones on the pitch as anticipation builds for the Paris Olympics.
The 30-year-old, who was diagnosed with hearing loss by a specialist in London in April last year, decided to “try to get used to” the devices on the pitch.
During the Women’s World Cup at home last year, Arnold didn’t wear headphones because she “plays with them too much.”
“I’ve played my whole life without them. I still consider not using them to be normal,” he said at the time.
“But I think if I wore them on the field it would distract me.” [from the game] because I would be playing with them too much.’
Arnold stole the hearts of many football fans around the world in 2023 after she revealed that the Covid pandemic forced her to confront her hearing problems as her health continued to deteriorate.
Her teammates had to yell at her in conversations, Arnold couldn’t hear the tone of her phone messages, and meeting friends in coffee shops and bars became a chore she didn’t envy.
But thanks to the help and guidance of his brother Sam, who has worn hearing aids his entire life, Arnold realized it was time to see a specialist.
“It was when Covid hit and everyone started wearing masks all the time that I realized I had probably been reading lips a lot more than I thought,” said the star goalkeeper, who plays for West Ham in her hometown. football club.
‘Because honestly, I couldn’t hear anything when people were wearing masks. I was like, “What’s going on?”
Matildas star Mackenzie Arnold previously preferred lip-reading in the countryside because she finds her hearing aids ‘unsettled’
The West Ham star (left, pictured with Hammers teammate girlfriend Kirsty Smith) now wears hearing aids every day.
Thanks to his brother Sam (left), Arnold got his hearing checked by a specialist in London, who informed him that he had no choice but to get hearing aids.
She finally got the specialist to check her out and shared the terrifying moment with her fans in an Instagram video.
The specialist explained the severity of his situation and told Arnold that he had almost completely lost the ability to hear high frequencies.
“The lady said that if I don’t use hearing aids, everything will get worse because it’s like a muscle that, if you don’t use it, will deteriorate over time,” Arnold explained.
‘Honestly, I saw Caitlin Foord [Matildas teammate] We were in a cafe that was quite loud and she said it was really nice to be able to have a conversation with me and not repeat the same thing.
“It’s certainly made a huge difference.”