Dunlewey woman receives ‘life-changing gift of hearing’ at 101

A Letterkenny-based audiologist has said he “couldn’t really ask for a more worthy person” than a 101-year-old Donegal woman to receive free hearing aids - a point upon which Daniel O’Donnell agrees.

Annie McCaul from Dunlewey received the hearing aids through Hidden Hearing’s Gift of Hearing campaign from audiologist Mike Hearne of Hidden Hearing Letterkenny.

“Annie had just been here about a month ago, she just came in to have a hearing test and I immediately thought about our Gift of Hearing campaign,” Mike told DonegalLive. “I thought she would be someone who would benefit hugely from the hearing aids but also I just thought it was lovely that she was 101 and this is her first pair of hearing aids.

“It’s life-changing. It probably gives people back their lives. When they have hearing loss, that part of it was taken from them. When they get hearing aids, it’s a new lease of life completely for them.”

Annie meeting Daniel O'Donnell at Hidden Hearing's 15-year anniversary celebrations in Letterkenny

Technological advancements in hearing aids have been hugely beneficial, and Mike gave an example of a gentleman who had hearing difficulties, who could now hear his daughter’s voice again. 

 “They can connect to smartphones, so you have what’s called direct streaming,” Mike explains. “You don’t actually have to hold the phone to your ear, it will stream into the hearing aid.

“I can think of one man in particular, the first day he came in, I asked him: ‘How do you hear on the phone?’ and he said: ‘I don’t really use the phone.’

“It turned out he had a daughter in Australia, but his hearing was so poor that he had real difficulty chatting to the daughter on the phone. He got the hearing aids, and he got the direct streaming to the phone. The hearing aids work for FaceTime. Everything he was getting before was second-hand through his wife. She would speak to her daughter in Australia and fill him in on what was happening in her life. Now that he has the hearing aids, he can speak to her directly. 

“It’s brilliant, when he comes in, he says ‘I was chatting to her and she’s doing this’. It’s nice to have that kind of feedback.”

“I don’t know what will be the next big thing in hearing aids. I mean, five or six years ago, we didn’t have rechargeable hearing aids, two years ago, we didn’t have AI, so I don’t know where it’s going to go next.”

Another change Mike has seen over the years is a rise in younger people coming in, which he believes is down to a lessening stigma around wearing hearing aids.

“I think the attitude now with people in their 30s, 40s, whatever age they are, is if they have hearing loss and they know that there’s something there to help them hear better, they’ll go after it,” he said. “They don’t want to be missing out.”

Speaking on Hidden Hearing’s growth in Letterkenny over the past 15 years, Mike said: “We’re delighted with that because it’s a fantastic opportunity to help more people hear better and that’s what our goal is really, just to help people hear better,” he said. “It’s fantastic that in Letterkenny we’re able to do that more and more each year.”

Hidden Hearing marked its 15th anniversary serving the local community in Letterkenny with a celebration attended by none other than Daniel O’Donnell.

Daniel has a personal connection to the clinic – his late mother Julia, who passed away in 2014, was a valued patient of Hidden Hearing. Daniel was warmly welcomed by staff and guests and brought smiles to many faces as he mingled with attendees and posed for photographs.

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Daniel said, “It was a real pleasure to be part of this celebration with Hidden Hearing in Letterkenny. Hearing loss can be so isolating, and the work this clinic does to reconnect people with their world is truly important. I was especially touched to meet Annie and present her with the Gift of Hearing – at 101, she’s an incredible woman, and it was an honour to share that moment with her.”