An eight-year-old boy who was born deaf in one ear is thrilled when his new hearing aid is turned on.
Henri Turkington from Manchester was born with one ear and has spent his life trying different types of hearing aids, finally finding one that works.
A heartwarming video shows Henri’s face lighting up as he is visibly amazed by the sound of his new bone anchored hearing aid, which uses vibration.
In the 24-second clip, shared on TikTok, a nurse adjusts the device and tells Henri: “It can make a few whistles.”
“I hear it,” he exclaims. Someone asks, ‘does it sound better?’, and Henri gives a big beaming grin to confirm that it does.
Henri Turkington, 8, from Manchester, was born with one ear and has tried different types of hearing aids throughout his life, finally finding one that works
Henri’s father Lee Turkington said his son was always positive about his ear and was often very comical about the condition.
Mr Turkington said: ‘We didn’t know he would be born with one ear.
‘We did some hearing tests when he got a little older and realized he was deaf on the left side.
‘It’s like putting your hand over one of your ears.
‘The inside is there, but the outside is clearly not there.
“We say he’s like Mr. Potato Head and you can only take off one ear. He’s so comical with how he handles his ear.”
Mr Turkington explains that Henri’s speech is ‘great’, but that the hearing aid helps him a little more.
‘We do regular hearing aid checks or hearing checks, just to see if it’s getting worse.
“Now they have the bone anchor hearing aid, which they tried years ago when he was very little.
‘He was a bit too young to use it – he used to do it all the time and stuff like that.
‘With the newer hearing aid, the vibrations then travel to his skull, which, because he has the inner part of the ear, you can hear.
“As you can see from the video, he was amazed by the sound.”
A bone anchored hearing aid is a type of hearing implant that is placed on the skull. It is used for people with hearing loss, caused by sound not being able to reach your inner ear, the NHS says. Henri has tried this type of hearing aid before, but removed it when he was young
Henri’s father Lee Turkington, pictured, said his son has always been positive about his ear and is often very comical about the condition. Mr Turkington explains that Henri’s speech is ‘great’, but that the hearing aid helps him a little more
A bone anchored hearing aid is a type of hearing implant that is placed on the skull. It is used for people with hearing loss, caused by sound not being able to reach your inner ear, the NHS says.
It is attached to the skull during minor surgery and captures sound and sends it to the inner ear by vibrating the bones near the ear.
The implant can be snapped on and removed so it can be removed for sleeping, swimming or showering.
Some newer types are held on the head with magnets instead of a connector through the skin.
Mr Turkington explains that Henri was also born with a lung problem, which is also regularly monitored.
“We go to regular check-ups and when he was one he had to have a piece of his lung removed from a cyst – which covered two of the lung lobes,” he said.
“He’s such a strong little boy,” he added.