| | | | | something in Jerome’s ear canal that is |
| Nine years is a long time for an 11-year-old boy to be | | | | hampering his hearing, and is amazed that the many |
| without any hearing in his right ear, however, this is | | | | doctors and hearing specialists they asked for help |
| what happened to Jerome Bartens who had to cope | | | | have not found this bud. Mr. Bartens said: "But the |
| with this handicap. He was diagnosed as deaf in his | | | | doctors and hearing specialists said it was wax and |
| right ear when he was just 2-years-old. | | | | he would probably grow out of it. I am amazed they |
| | | | | didn't spot something as obvious as a cotton wool |
| Doctors and hearing aid audiologists could offer no | | | | bud." |
| help to the Bartens’ and the cause of his | | | | |
| deafness was left unresolved until 27 January 2008 | | | | Jerome is overjoyed at his new-found hearing and |
| when he and some friends were playing in a church | | | | reckons he will be much happier at school now that |
| hall. Something popped in his ear and when he put his | | | | he no longer suffers from continual earaches. Jerome |
| finger in his ear, a 1cm-long waxy cotton bud came | | | | said: 'It was very strange at first to be able to hear |
| out. It is believed this bud has been lodged in his ear | | | | everything. But now I'm getting used to it – it's |
| for the past nine years. | | | | great that people don't have to shout to me or that |
| | | | | I don't have to turn my head all the time.” |
| His father, Mr. Bartens, believes Jerome put this | | | | |
| cotton bud in his ear when he was a 2-year-old and | | | | While elated that his hearing has returned to |
| that the tip fell off the plastic stem. Young Jerome | | | | ‘normal’, the family is keeping the waxy |
| has always struggled at school because he is hard of | | | | cotton bud as a souvenir and showed it to the |
| hearing in his right ear. He also said he has become | | | | specialists who were checking up on Jerome. The |
| used to being shouted at and having to turn up the | | | | single father has also made complaints against the |
| television’s volume so that he could hear better. | | | | several doctors who examined Jerome over the |
| | | | | years and who thought there was nothing wrong |
| His father said he has always suspected there is | | | | with the young boy. |