An eight-year-old boy who was born deaf in one ear is left overjoyed when his new hearing aid was switch on.
Henri Turkington from Manchester was born with one ear and has tried several types of hearing aids throughout his life, and finally found one that works.
A heartwarming video shows Henri’s face light up as he becomes visibly amazed by the sound from his new bone anchored hearing aid — which works using vibrations.
In the 24-second clip, shared on TikTok, a nurse adjusts the device telling Henri: ‘It might make a few whistles.’
‘I can hear it,’ he exclaims. Someone asks, ‘does it sound better,’ and Henri gives a huge beaming grin the confirm it does.
Henri Turkington, 8, from Manchester was born with one ear and has tried several types of hearing aids throughout his life, and finally found one that works
Henri’s dad Lee Turkington said his son has been ever-positive about his ear and he is often very comical about the condition.
Mr Turkington said: ‘We didn’t know he was going to be born with one ear.
‘We did some hearing tests as he got a bit older and then realised 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 obviously isn’t there.
‘We say he’s like a Mr Potato Head and you can just take one ear off — he’s so comical with how he is with his ear.’
Mr Turkington explained that Henri’s speech is ‘amazing’, but the hearing aid helps him that bit more.
‘We go for regular hearing aid checks or hearing checks — just to see if they’re getting any worse.
‘Now, they have the bone anchor hearing aid, which they used to try years and years ago, when he was very small.
‘He was a bit too young to use it — he used to pull it off and things like that.
‘With the newer hearing aid, the vibrations then go onto his skull, which as he has the inside part of the ear, that’s how you can hear.
‘As you can see by the video, he was amazed by the sound.’
A bone anchored hearing aid, is a type of hearing implant that’s fitted to the skull. It’s used for people with hearing loss caused by sound being unable to reach your inner ear, the NHS says. Henri did try this type of hearing aid before but used to remove it when he was young
Henri’s dad Lee Turkington, pictured, said his son has been ever-positive about his ear and he is often very comical about the condition. Mr Turkington explained that Henri’s speech is ‘amazing’, but the hearing aid helps him that bit more
A bone anchored hearing aid, is a type of hearing implant that’s fitted to the skull. It’s used for people with hearing loss caused by sound being unable to reach your inner ear, the NHS says.
It’s attached to the skull during a minor operation and picks up sound and sends it to the inner ear by vibrating the bones near the ear.
The implant can be clipped on and off, so it can be removed to sleep, to go swimming or take a shower.
Some newer types are held onto the head with magnets instead of a connector through the skin.
Mr Turkington explained Henri was also born with a lung problem which is also regularly checked.
‘We go for regular checks and when he was one, he had to have a bit of his lung removed from a cyst — which went over two of the lobes in his lung,’ he said.
‘He’s such a strong little boy,’ he added.
