'Cochlear implants have lifted our family's lives'

When Toby Carver was young, his family's efforts to find a way for him to receive a then-revolutionary cochlear implant were "a struggle".

He said he had the device fitted at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre in 1997, when he was three-and-a-half, which made "an enormous difference" after years of struggle.

His sister also underwent the same treatment three years after him, and he met his wife Lucy at a cochlear implant conference.

After his 10-month-old son Jasper had his own implant in February, he said his Nottingham-based family cannot imagine leading a full life without the breakthrough medical aid.

Cochlear implants send signals directly to the nerves used for hearing, with an implant placed under the skin and a headpiece on the outside of the head.

The first cochlear implant was fitted to a patient by an Australian doctor in 1978.

Toby said it was a struggle in the early days for him to get a cochlear implant.

"The criteria were different then, and it was only through last-minute research that I was able to have the operation," he added.

Fortunately for Toby, he was able to have the implant fitted, which helped him develop spoken language skills crucial in his career as a chartered engineer.

He said further advances in the technology have added to the benefits the implants provide.

"Having the implant has made an enormous difference to my life," he said.

"My parents were told when I was born, that I was going to have to sign - there was no other option, I was never going to be able to hear.

"To be able to have the support of my parents, to go through the cochlear implant process at the time, was instrumental really. It's enabled me to live a full life [and] have the career that I've got, and that would have been impossible without the support."

Since Jasper received his implant, he is already getting used to living in a world with sound.

Lucy said the decision "felt a lot easier" to make as both she and Toby had lived with the benefits of the devices.

"We know where life can go, but other parents haven't got that opportunity to see, because they've never met anyone with a cochlear implant," she said.

"We're very lucky and fortunate to be where we are."

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