Deafness Research UK's latest recruit offers hearing aid hope

10 June 2010

Andrew Goodwin knows better than most why the work of Deafness Research UK needs further investment and support, so that future research into hearing aids, deafness, tinnitus and other deafness-related conditions can proceed as planned.

On 1 June 2002, many people were looking forward to England’s appearance in the World Cup, as they are now. Whilst much of the nation was in a state of excitement, Andrew Goodwin, then aged 31, was facing a frightening and uncertain future. On that normal Saturday, he had just woken up as normal. What wasn’t normal was he realised all of a sudden, totally without warning, he was profoundly deaf.

“Just like that, my life changed completely in an instant”, said Andrew. “Up until that time I was perfectly independent, a happy person with a good social life, a good job, and had a perfectly normal life. Immediately afterwards, everything changed.  Because I lost my hearing I was unable to communicate, therefore I lost my job. Because of that, I also lost my self-esteem and my independence.

“It sounds mundane, but even going shopping was something terrifying, because people could come up to me and start talking to me and I would not have a clue what they were saying, so my parents ended up shopping for me.  I was 31 years old and my parents were shopping and cooking for me.  Not a happy place to be. You can probably imagine, through those kinds of experiences and also the loss of a social life, I went into extreme depression. Within three months of losing my hearing, unfortunately I was even thinking of suicide; but what about doctors?

“Surely they must have helped?  It was four weeks of messing around with the GP, giving me drugs and possible things to clear up what had happened before I saw a specialist.  Who knows what difference would have been made if I'd seen the specialist immediately?  From that moment, thanks to huge support from my parents and some people I eventually found who had a similar condition to me, I was able to make slow recovery, up to where I am today, and technology has also taken a huge step forward, even to the extent that I'm now wearing hearing aids, bright blue ones. However, even with these hearing aids I still can't hear what's being said. So that's why organisations like Deafness Research UK are so important, because they are extending what we know about the ear, how it works and how it doesn't, but more importantly, will help, hopefully, lead to preventions and possible cures.”

Andrew was speaking to an invited audience at Deafness Research UK’s silver jubilee Royal reception in the State Apartments, St James’s Palace in the presence of the charity’s Patron, His Royal Highness, The Duke of York KG. At the reception last week, His Royal Highness, who has been Patron of Deafness Research UK since 1986, met Andrew along with researchers, supporters and many of those who have benefited from the charity’s work and was informed of the charity’s new Auditory Centres of Excellence Initiative which aims to expand hearing research teams across the country.

Only a few days before, Andrew had just been appointed to the position of Information and Outreach Adviser for Deafness Research UK, a role which he is naturally passionate about. “Given my condition and the journey I have experienced, I can’t think of a better job for me to do than to offer help and guidance to others who are frustrated, devastated, even occasionally suicidal because of the effects of deafness and related conditions.

“I can offer real hope that there really is light at the end of the tunnel. The great work Deafness Research UK is doing to advance hearing aid technology and in the areas of cochlear implants and medical ways of preventing or reversing hearing loss offer genuine hope of major breakthroughs in our lifetime. This is the most positive time ever for the deaf community and I’m delighted to be the one that will answer enquiries from people seeking information and help from Deafness Research UK.”

Vivienne Michael, Chief Executive of Deafness Research UK, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Andrew to the charity and I can’t think of anyone better to represent, assist and respond to requests and enquiries from deaf and hearing impaired people.  The Information Service provides invaluable support to those desperate for information and advice to help them better understand their condition and learn more about treatments and potential cures.”  

The Deafness Research UK Information Service can be e-mailed on

If you prefer, you can download our free factsheets and leaflets from the Deafness Research UK website at www.deafnessresearch.org.uk or call the FREEPHONE number on 0808 808 2222.     

Deafness affects one in seven of the UK population, a staggering nine million people, yet there is still less than £2 per person spent on research into deafness each year.

ENDS


Notes to editors
Andrew Goodwin: short biography

Andrew Goodwin was born in Bushey Heath and raised in Pinner, North West London. He moved to Saltdean near Brighton in 1988, then moved a few times before finally settling in Eastbourne in 2003. Now working for Deafness Research UK Andrew remains a serving local councillor in Eastbourne.

 

Celebrating 25 years of ground breaking research

Over the past 25 years, Deafness Research UK has contributed to three major transformational discoveries that have changed lives:

• Testing hearing in newborn children: 30 years ago, Professor David Kemp was working as a young researcher in the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London and found that if a tiny click is presented to the ear, a fraction of a section later the ear would generate an echo of the click. He discovered, rather surprisingly, this was not a mechanical echo, but a biological one, and it demonstrates that the ear is working normally. This discovery enabled a method for testing the hearing of newborn children in a very precise and easy way. This technique is now being used throughout the world. Deafness Research UK has funded part of David’s work.
• Cochlear implants: Cochlear implants were like science-fiction 30 years ago - it didn’t seem possible that they could restore hearing in adults who had become deaf, let alone create the ability for deaf children to acquire language. Today over 150,000 people use implants around the world, many in the UK. Children now get implants for each ear, and the majority go on to develop speech, attend mainstream schools and thrive. Deafness Research UK funded and supported fundamental work on the hearing mechanism in the 1980s and has recently campaigned to show the cost-effective benefits of cochlear implants to the NHS.
• Genetics: revolutions in research: if you looked at the hospital notes of a deaf patient 30 years ago, they would probably say the cause of deafness was unknown. Today we have a wealth of research showing what goes wrong and why. However, we are still on the brink of an extraordinary revolution in developing the ways hearing impairments are diagnosed, prevented and treated. Deafness Research UK continues to fund vital research into genetics and molecular biology that helps deaf people and prevents others’ from becoming deaf.

About Deafness Research UK

• Deafness Research UK is the country’s only charity dedicated to finding new cures, treatments and technologies for deaf, hard of hearing and other hearing impaired people.
• The charity supports high quality medical research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all forms of hearing impairment including tinnitus.
• The Deafness Research UK Information Service provides free information and advice based on the latest scientific evidence and informed by leading experts. The Information Service can be contacted on Freephone 0808 808 2222
• For more information on research into deafness, tinnitus and other hearing conditions, log on to the website at www.deafnessresearch.org.uk where you can access a wide range of information. Alternatively you can e-mail Deafness Research UK at
• One in seven people in the UK – almost nine million people - suffer hearing loss.
• Deafness Research UK was founded in 1985 by Lord (Jack) and Lady Ashley of Stoke.
• In January 2008, Action for Tinnitus Research (ATR) was linked with Deafness Research UK under a uniting direction order under section 96(6) of the Charities Act 1993.
  
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