Help my son hear again says mum

Help my son hear again says mum
By MANDEEP SINGH Published: 23rd June 2008 A DISTRAUGHT mother has appealed in desperation for help for her 14-year-old son, who has gone almost completely deaf. Nabeela Aziz needs more than BD25,000 for a cochlear implant to restore her son Hanook's hearing. The Pakistani teenager developed high fever and flu in July last year and was treated with antibiotics at Salmaniya Medical Complex. He developed hearing problems almost as soon as he came out of hospital, says Ms Aziz. Ms Aziz and her husband Aziz Masih have been told his only hope is a cochlear implant, but this surgery is done only for Bahrainis at the hospital. "We are told it would cost more than BD25,000 if we are to travel abroad, but even to think about that amount is way beyond us," said Ms Aziz. She said her husband, a driver in a private company, earned barely BD150 a month and they can just about manage to make ends meet. "Hanook started complaining of a heaviness in his right ear after he came back home and was cured of his fever, but we thought it was the after-effects of the flu," said Ms Aziz. "Gradually, when he started saying he was unable to hear, we took him to the hospital, where doctors shocked us by saying he would require a hearing aid." Hanook, a Pakistan Urdu School student, was so upset that he even refused to use a hearing aid. "He started to use one later, but soon his condition deteriorated so much that the aid became useless," said Ms Aziz. She said he was then taken to the American Mission Hospital (AMH) where doctors, after a battery of tests, concluded his hearing was "on the decline" and that he should undergo a cochlear implant as soon as possible. "They even warned his speech would start getting affected if immediate intervention did not take place," said Ms Aziz. "We have again invested in another hearing aid but even that is useless now." Hanook stopped going to school one month ago because he was unable to cope. "He is in agony and unable to come to terms with the fact that he is unable to hear," said his mother. "We cannot bear to see him suffer. He is now unable to do all those things he has been doing for the last 13 years - like watching television or listening to music." She said she and her husband were afraid to even let go of Hanook's hand outside the house. "He cannot hear traffic and is completely clueless to what is going on around him," said Ms Aziz. AMH ear, nose and throat specialist Dr E Krishnan says in a medical certificate that there is nothing more that doctors in Bahrain can do. "His hearing nerves have probably been affected and all treatment options in Bahrain have been exhausted," he said. "He needs an immediate cochlear implant to help him hear again." Mr Masih said his employers had been extremely generous in helping him with some of the formalities regarding Hanook's illness. "But there is a limit to what they can do," he said. Mr Masih met and married Ms Aziz in Bahrain almost 17 years ago and the couple have another son, 16-year-old Sagar. Ms Aziz was born and brought up in Bahrain. Her father, a former policeman and her mother still stay in the country. Anyone wishing to get in touch with Ms Aziz can do so on her mobile number 36865188. mandeep@gdn.com.bh
© Gulf Daily News