I don’t normally post items like this but Joanne Milne’s story deserves special mention.
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Ms Milne, from Gateshead, U.K. and now aged 40, was born profoundly deaf, then went blind in her twenties. This is because she suffers from Usher Syndrome, a genetic (or inherited) condition which affects a person’s hearing, vision and balance. Her case has received a lot of publicity as she’s been given bilateral cochlear implants that allow her to hear for the first time. Be warned: The video clip above showing the moment of revelation is highly emotionally charged!
Ms Milne’s accompanying sight loss was caused by retinitis pigmentosa. This results in night-blindness and a loss of peripheral vision (side vision) through the progressive degeneration of the retina.
Many of us who begin to suffer age-related hearing and sight problems often remark that they may be easier to manage if a patient has had these disabilities from birth. But now I’m not so sure! 
The full story may be found at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2590509/Watch-The-moving-moment-deaf-woman-overcome-emotion-HEARS-time-having-cochlea-implants-switched-on.html.
© Natalie Wood (27 March 2014)
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