THREE-AND-A-HALF year old Calum Geary was born deaf but this week the first signs of hearing were achieved thanks to a ‘bionic ear’.

The young Cork twin was fitted with an ABI (auditory brainstem implant) device, or bionic ear, at the end of February but it has yet to be activated fully. He is just one of 145 children around the world who have undergone the necessary surgery to benefit from the cutting-edge technology.

The Geary family returned to Manchester Children’s Hospital this week to have the device switched on for the first time and to the delight of family and doctors, there were many positive signs that he was hearing something.

While Calum was under a general anaesthetic, doctors started to test if his senses were being stimulated. Initial tests when he was born showed that he is missing all the nerves between each ear and his brain, including his balance nerve.

“There are 21 electrodes so they have to work out which is the most effective for conducting sounds,” Calum’s father Andrew told TheJournal.ie. ”They started work on mapping and programming to refine the functions to make sure the right part of the brain is being stimulated as some were making him cough or gag.”

Calum also got to hear the sounds of his parents and three brothers talking for the first time ever.

The family has described the past three years as a long and frustrating road but Andrew said much of it has been a positive experience as well.

Calum is very much in a minority within the deaf community. Of the 144 other children with an ABI device fitted around the world, many were post-lingually deaf – meaning they had lost their hearing after they began to learn speech.

The Ballyhooly twin is pre-lingually deaf so will need to first get used to environmental sounds before working on his speech. Other pre-lingually deaf students can often get fitted with a cochlear implant but Calum was not a suitable candidate.

After that news, his parents then discovered that the operation to implant the ABI device is more brain surgery that ear surgery and that the results are not guaranteed. As the condition is so rare and normally associated with other issues, the Gearys were told they would have to attend a hospital outside the country.

What next?

Experts have warned the family that Calum will still be a way behind in his hearing development even if the device works, reminding them that he has less capacity than a newborn baby.

“He needs to get used to environmental sounds first,” explains Andrew. “Developmentally, it will take six to seven months to see him acquire more ability than a newborn who is used to hearing things even before he/she is born.”

He says he hopes at that time Calum may turn to the sound of a bell or move towards a door if someone knocks on it. Within three years, it would be a success if Calum has a few words.

If he has a few words and can understand…if we have a way of communicating – be it a mix of sign language and speech.

Unfortunately, a bit of the “buzz” was taken away from the good news this week as Calum was suffering a little with a chest infection while in hospital. He had to be kept over for two nights which delayed the family’s homecoming. However, they are expected back on the ferry this weekend to celebrate with relations, friends and others who have helped the Geary family through a gruelling fundraising campaign.

Andrew talks gratefully about the help his family – his wife Helen, and three sons Donnacha (Calum’s twin), Barry and Matthew – have received from HSE funding to donations to the website.

They are now “very close” to hitting their fundraising target of €60,000 which will cover the multiple trips to Manchester over the coming months, as well as speech therapy in the John Tracy Clinic in California.

The window for speech acquisition is closing fast, says Andrew, so quick action is required.

When Calum turns 18 we want him to be able to turn to us and say we have exhausted every option and we have done our best for him.

However, the family have also embraced Calum’s deafness and are proud of it.

“We have met amazing people through Calum but it is a tightrope you have to walk. Calum will always be deaf even if he does manage to get talking. We have also already decided to send him to the School for the Deaf in Cork City,” he said.

The whole family has started learning sign language, including Calum’s twin Donncha and their older brothers.

Another young girl from Cork Alicja Nowicki, who suffers from Charge Syndrome, is also undergoing treatment to activate an ABI device at the moment. Her surgery has been performed in Italy as the four-year-old has a more complicated medical history than Calum. Andrew asked people to remember Alicja and to visit her website as her life-changing treatments are extremely expensive.