Baby Ruby gets gift of hearing for first time

Like any other baby, Ruby Hallow loves to hear her favourite songs The Wheels on the Bus and Baa Baa Black Sheep.

However, it was only a few days ago that the 10-month-old heard these tunes for the first time, thanks to the latest technology.

Ruby was born deaf and it has only been through the use of cochlear implants that she has been able to hear what is going on in the world around her.

Her parents Lee and Lisa, of Chancery Drive in Hednesford, Staffordshire, say their youngest daughter was only two weeks old when it was revealed she was severely deaf.

A geneticist told the couple that Ruby had Waardenberg Syndrome, which is a hereditary problem, and also means the youngster has different coloured eyes. However, it has not stopped the lively baby who had her implants switched on last week.

Lisa says: "This Christmas is going to be extra special because Ruby has been given the ability to hear, something we never thought would happen.

"I have Waardenberg Syndrome and so has our eldest daughter Charlotte but neither of us have had hearing problems, so I didn't worry about Ruby."

Lisa, whose father and uncle are both partially deaf, says she started to notice that something was wrong with Ruby just hours after her birth. "When we were in hospital I noticed she didn't startle when doors were slammed shut," says Lisa, 28.

"Also, when one of the hospital staff vacuumed my room she didn't wake up or even become restless. Looking back it seemed so weird but now we have accepted it. When your baby is born you want them to be perfect, and now we know she is perfect."

The implant under Ruby's skin, near her ear, is about one inch long and at one end of it there is a little wire that goes into the cochlear bone.

The reason Ruby is deaf is the little hairs in the cochlear, which vibrate and send messages to the brain, don't work properly.

However, the implant has an electrode that converts sound into an electronic impulse, which is carried through the auditory nerve to the brain. The implant is magnetised and the microphone device, which is outside her head, is also magnetised so it can easily be put on and removed.

Lee, 34, who works in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, says: "To go from being deaf to being able to hear must be strange and Ruby doesn't like it if there are a lot of sounds around her.

"This was a chance to give Ruby as normal a life as possible and we hope that she won't be too far behind other children with her speaking skills.

"The decision of whether or not to have the implant wasn't difficult as it will enable her to hear things like fire alarms and car horns – even from a safety point of view it has huge benefits. When she is older, if she wants to be part of the deaf community then we will support her and we are learning sign language in case that is what she wants to do, however at least we have given her the chance to be able to hear."

Lisa said that when they were given the news of Ruby's deafness it felt like "the worst weekend of my life".

"I was like a zombie but Lee stayed strong – he has always been my rock.

"A week later we went to see a consultant at Cannock Hospital who mentioned the implants. Because she hasn't any natural hearing she can't have hearing aids and the implants can only provide her with an electronic sound, a bit like a Dalek off Doctor Who.

"There is so much technology involved in the implant but thankfully every child I have met who has one has good speech."

The implants were fitted at the Nottingham Cochlear Implant Centre and have been attached to both sides of her head so she knows which direction a sound is coming from. The implants even come with a small remote control so the user can change the volume.

Lee says: "We are so happy and we can't thank the doctors enough for everything they have done for Ruby – we will never hear a bad thing said about the NHS again.

"This Christmas was going to be special anyway because it is Ruby's first one – but now she can hear it is going to be magic."