Rachel Fishwick with her sons James, left, seven, and Conor, 11
The rustle of a packet of crisps, the laughter of children in a playground and the tip-tap of high heels on a pavement are all sounds most people take for granted.
But for Rachel Fishwick they are sounds she is hearing for the first time thanks to a cochlear implant fitted at the Yorkshire Cochlear Implant Service at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
Earlier this month the Telegraph & Argus revealed how the 40-year-old mother-of-two, who was born profoundly deaf, was fitted with the internal part of the implant in October and waiting for it to be switched on.
That switch-on has now taken place with Rachel accompanied to the appointment by her husband Howard, with whom she has two sons, Conor, 11, and James, seven.
"At first it was weird because everything sounded robotic and both Howard and the audiologist Elaine Burke sounded the same," said Rachel, of Liversedge. "On our way out of the hospital, walking to the car, I suddenly started to look around to investigate these different sounds - people in their high heels - I could hear every tip tap of the heels!
"My husband was rustling through the leaves and I heard them too. The worst noise I ever heard was a crisp packet as they were rather loud!
"When I was typing to let people know about my switch-on, I could hear myself typing at the keyboard."
And as Rachel progresses she expects her hearing to get better and better.
"I went back for more programming to increase the volume as I had noticed it was getting quiet and I couldn't hear the television but time will tell and I have to be patient," she said.
"I am beginning to recognise the difference between women's voices and men's voices and the children, especially their laughter and squealing in the school playgrounds. Parents at James's school said Wow - it's amazing' as technology has moved on and they were pleased I could hear some sounds I have not heard before.
"I haven't heard the birds yet as it's the wrong time of year."
James and Conor are also thrilled with the technology which is enabling their mum to hear.
Conor said: "I think it's much better and I hope not to shout at my mum."
James said: "She is amazing because she can hear me better than she could."
Rachel added: "I'm really pleased with it and my thanks go to the staff at the Yorkshire Cochlear Implant Service for this. I could not have asked for better hearing and hopefully I will discover more new sounds that I have not heard before."
Extracted from Telegraph & Argus, Friday 23rd November 2007
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