HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2017-02-01, Page 91
Wednesday, February 1, 2017 • Signal Star 9
Local granted the "gift of hearing"
Shaun Gregory
Postmedia Network
John felt like he was always
missing words in verbal conver-
sations with friends, and as the
years progressed, his hearing
began to fade further -but there
was nothing the Goderich native
could do -until he became one of
70 lucky Canadians.
It's been about three years of
John Sorensen constantly
doing tests on his ears and
searching for answers. Special-
ists had diagnosed the prob-
lem and suggested a solution,
the answer to John's problem
was a hearing aid.
The difficulty is, Sorensen
hadn't the funds to pay for the
recommended equipment, with
a price tag ranging anywhere
from $1,000-54,000.
With working to the best of his
abilities at Food Basics and pay-
ing the bills, Sorensen said no
matter how much he tried; the
needed hearing apparatus
missed the cut in his yearly
budget.
"I was having trouble trying to
pay for it, I wasn't able to come
up with that type of money."
Sorensen, 54, admitted to
being frustrated at times, "I was
having a lot of trouble hearing
people talking."
The most dilemmas happened
in cars, Sorensen being the pas-
senger recalls missing out on
several words during chats with
friends or family.
Last Christmas, he was
rewarded with the "gift of hear-
ing," which meant his senses
would be tweaked up a notch.
ListenUP Canada was the
organization to answer the call.
They nominated Sorensen for
the Campaign for Better Hear-
ing; he qualified and received a
"midpriced," hearing aid for
free.
Since 2014, Kristen Van Osch,
hearing instruments specialists
at ListenUP Canada in Goderich
had to monitor Sorensen hear-
ing. It concerned her that he
could not afford a hearing aid.
So when the confirmation
came back that Sorensen's wish
would be granted, Van Osch felt
well, knowing her patient was
finally looked after.
"That's the rewarding part of
my job, you get to see that dif-
ference when they've been
struggling for x -amount of years
and then they put (the) hearing
aids (on)," stated Van Osch Jan-
uary 26. "They say I can't
believe the difference this is
making in my life.
In an instant, after installing
the hearing aid, which is about
the size of a cellphone Blue-
tooth, his earshot distance
enhanced, "It's great, I can hear
a pin drop," he said.
Currently, the Campaign for
Better Hearing has raised more
than 5290,000; this money will
go towards other recipients who
otherwise would not have been
able to purchase a hearing aid,
due to their financial situations.
"If it wasn't for this (dona-
tion), I would still have bad
hearing," ended Sorensen.
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To the right, John Sorensen, 54, from Goderich was one of 70 Canadians to be nominated
for a free hearing aid, in the Campaign For Better Hearing.
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