NICE guidance

Case studies

Anzo’s father Dushyant tells his story...

Anzo was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at birth, a diagnosis that was confirmed when he was two months old. We tried hearing aids, but they weren't effective, as Anzo had no high-frequency hearing, so it was recommended that we tried bilateral cochlear implants.

We could see from the research that Anzo would benefit more from bilaterals than a unilateral cochlear implant, and we wrote to our PCT asking for funding. Fortunately they agreed to this quite quickly and he was fitted with bilateral Nucleus Freedom implants before his second birthday.

Following intensive speech therapy, Anzo is doing very well and is almost age-appropriate in his development. He’s now four and currently attends a specialist pre-school and local nursery. My wife and I are hoping that he will attend a mainstream school this September.

Since he’s had his implants, Anzo is much happier and more confident. He loves listening to music and singing and is a very vocal little boy!