My Story

My names is James Coleman and alongside my hereditary degenerative hearing loss a few years ago I suffered a massive SSHL (Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss). This took place overnight and caused alarm that resulted in many a hospital visit including an MRI scan to try and determine the cause. Unfortunately no cause was found and my hearing has further deteriorated. I also suffer with Tinnitus. I have learnt to cope with single sided deafness but do get enough volume through the other ear with the help of a hearing aid however and this is where hearing loss is misunderstood. Without my aid I can not hear, with my aid and depending on the environment or levels of stress, sounds can some times be too loud. The symptom of this is that I can not understand what you are saying but everything around me ie background noise is piercingly loud which then triggers a Tinnitus attack. If more than one person is speaking at once again I cant understand you. So it is not always a case of I can't hear you, it's often a case of I can't understand you. When this first happened life became very isolating, I avoided social situations, the workplace became almost a danger and people treat you like you are stupid which naturally causes a loss in confidence. It took me years to adjust, I learnt to read lips, I have undertaken a BSL (British Sign Language) diploma and found confidence in new things. I love to run, it can be solitary but deafness can also be solitary without the right help and this is where RNID come in. The help I recieved from RNID was outstanding. A representative visited me at home and talked me through all the help, entitlements, gadgets and support that I could receive. Many of these things I had no idea about until I met with RNID. During this journey only the closest of friends, family, my son and my wife, the doctors and nurses and RNID have shown the support that I needed. Many other people lack patience and understanding and are prejudice simply because they are more fortunate themselves. I will be pushing myself to the finish line in this years London Marathon in an effort to raise what money I can for RNID so that they can also help others just as they helped me.