‘I Hear A Sound’ follows two patients, Michael Ferris and Barbara Jameson, as they embark on a sonic odyssey back to the hearing world following their cochlear implant surgery in Beaumont Hospital.
Produced and presented by Angie Mezzetti, I Hear A Sound is the latest new radio documentary from Documentary On Newstalk. Broadcasting on Newstalk 106-108fm on Sunday 13th August at 8am, Repeated Saturday 19th August at 10pm
Imagine losing the ability to hear birds sing, or the sound of rain on the car windscreen. What if you couldn’t hear your favourite song or the news on the radio or your baby’s cry? Then imagine the joy of having that facility restored to you even after a sixty year absence. Thanks to Dr Laura Viani and her multi disciplinary team in Beaumont Hospital the Cochlear Implant programme is doing just that, performing miracles on a weekly basis for people who are deaf and hard of hearing. While it does not work for everyone, Michael Ferris 84 and Barbara Jameson in her fifties, have high hopes of getting their hearing back through a Cochlear Implant. It’s going to take time, determination, hard work and the support of family and friends to make a go of it.
Both Michael and Barbara have very different hearing loss stories so will they have equally successful outcomes? The documentary follows both people over a year during their regular hospital visits and tuning and counseling sessions in Beaumont. Away from the hospital environment we witness the effect on family members and friends at home in Galway and Dublin and see the impact of the DeafHear support organization at a group event in Portlaoise.
Galway man Michael Ferris now in his eighties lost almost all of his hearing during the Suez crisis in 1956 and has been without his hearing for over sixty years. He is good humoured, charming and lives a full life but misses two-way interaction and gets frustrated listening to the television and muddling through in social gatherings. One of his desires is to get back on the dance floor and start socialising again.
Barbara Jamesons’s hearing loss is more recent and she too gets embarrassed and isolated in company. Her biggest wish is to go to her daughter’s wedding in August and to hear her take her vows. She is also looking forward to hearing the sound of rain on the velux windows and to hearing birds sing again.
Founded and run by Dr. Laura Viani, the Cochlear Implant unit in Beaumont Hospital is a good news story for the HSE. The hospital’s reputation in the area is renowned internationally and the programme also shows how the unit collaborates with other leading institutions worldwide.
Other characters featured in the documentary are Cochlear Implant recipients Sally Harvest an internationally known expert trainer and facilitator, Maria Mezzetti sister of the producer and Madeleine Kennedy from Waterford.
Have your tissues ready this is an emotional roller coaster!
LISTEN BACK HERE TO I HEAR A SOUND:
CREDITS: ‘I Hear A Sound’ is funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's Sound & Vision Scheme with the television license fee,
Produced & Presented by Angie Mezzetti of Ocarina Productions.
Sound editing by Patrick Wall. Music by Chris O’Donnell of Qzack.
LISTEN LIVE ON AIR: Tune in to Newstalk 106-108fm on Sunday 13th August at 8am, Repeated Saturday 19th August at 10pm
LISTEN LIVE ONLINE: ‘I Hear A Sound’ can be listened to online at: www.newstalk.com
PODCAST: Podcast available at: www.newstalk.com/documentaryonnewstalk after the broadcast.
To hear more home-grown radio drama and documentary from Documentary & Drama On Newstalk, visit our archives at: www.newstalk.com/documentaryonnewstalk
