An eight-year-old boy who was born deaf in one ear is very happy when his new hearing aid is turned on.
Henri Turkington from Manchester was born with one ear and has tried various types of hearing aids throughout his life and finally found one that works.
A moving video shows Henri’s face lighting up as he is visibly amazed by the sound of his new bone-anchored hearing aid, which works through vibrations.
In the 24-second clip, shared on TikTok, a nurse adjusts the device and tells Henri: “It might make some whistles.”
“I can hear it,” he exclaims. Someone asks, “Does that sound better?” and Henri flashes a huge, radiant smile to confirm that it is.
Henri Turkington, 8, from Manchester, was born with one ear and has tried various types of hearing aids throughout his life, finally finding one that works.
Henri’s father, Lee Turkington, said his son has always been very positive about his hearing and is often very comical about his condition.
Turkington said: “We didn’t know he was going to be born with one ear.”
‘We did some hearing tests on him as he got a little older and then we realized he was deaf on the left side.
‘It’s like the equivalent of putting your hand over one of your ears.
“The inside is there, but the outside is obviously not there.
“We say he’s like Mr. Potato Head and you can only take one ear off; it’s very comical with the way he behaves with his ear.”
Turkington explained that Henri’s speech is “amazing,” but the hearing aid helps him a little more.
‘We have regular hearing aid or hearing checks, just to see if they are getting worse.
‘Now they have the bone-anchored hearing aid, which they used to try years and years ago, when he was very little.
‘I was too young to use it; I used to achieve it and stuff like that.
‘With the newer hearing aid, the vibrations reach your skull, which since it’s on the inside of your ear, that’s how you can hear.
“As you can see in the video, he was amazed by the sound.”
A bone anchored hearing aid is a type of hearing implant that is placed in the skull. It is used for people with hearing loss caused by sound being unable to reach the inner ear, the NHS says. Henri tried this type of hearing aid before, but he used to take it off when he was young.
Henri’s father Lee Turkington, pictured, said his son has always been very positive about his hearing and is often very comical about his condition. Turkington explained that Henri’s speech is “amazing,” but the hearing aid helps him a little more.
A bone anchored hearing aid is a type of hearing implant that is placed in the skull. It is used for people with hearing loss caused by sound being unable to reach the inner ear, the NHS says.
It is attached to the skull during a minor operation, captures sound and sends it to the inner ear by vibrating the bones near the ear.
The implant can be clipped on and off, so you can remove it to sleep, go swimming, or shower.
Some newer types attach to the head with magnets instead of a connector through the skin.
Turkington explained that Henri was also born with a lung problem that is also monitored periodically.
“We have regular checkups and, when he was one year old, he had to have some of his lung removed because of a cyst that covered two of the lobes of his lung,” he said.
“He is a very strong child,” he added.