Music to his ears

ST LUCIA'S Bill Raymond is the first cochlear implant recipient to become an audiologist in Australia.Having graduated from the University of Queensland, the 24-year-old said it was an ``incredible achievement''. Born with a severe hearing disability, Mr Raymond received the implant when he was 13, after his hearing deteriorated and hearing aids could no longer be of assistance. ``I was extremely unhappy. I felt very isolated.``I had been doing quite well at school, but the teachers didn't bother talking to me,'' Mr Raymond said.``I just read a book in the corner and my friends got sick of repeating the punchline to their jokes. ``I stopped going to their houses and was painfully shy.'' A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted device which transforms sound into electrical impulses.These are then transmitted to the brain for decoding.In 1996, after a two-hour operation, he received the implant through keyhole surgery.``The first time the implant was turned on, mum spoke to me.``Her voice should have been the most natural sound in the world, but it sounded like breaking glass and I cried,'' he said. Now an audiologist at Auchenflower's Hear and Say Centre, Mr Raymond said the progress of technology had helped him further his dream.``I am able to identify with patients who have hearing loss,'' Mr Raymond said.``I never had a hearing impaired audiologist. Now I can look the kids in the eye and say my hearing is as bad or worse than theirs.''He said while at school, he went from being the kid who talked to no-one, to school captain of his primary school. ``I won English subject prizes and competitions, and received a Young Citizen of the Year Award for the Pittsworth Shire,'' Mr Raymond said.``I'm really grateful to the people who have helped along the way especially my parents and various professionals."