Irish Cyclist Morgan Fox reveals what helped him regain hearing after accident left him completely deaf
In 2012, Irish Cyclist, Morgan Fox was competing in the biggest race in the Asia Tour of Qinghai when he was involved in an accident that was to change his life.
Editor comment
It’s always good to see stories about Cochlear Implant recipients particularly when it involves role models such as Morgan.
We do need more people in the media spotlight like Morgan. He talks openly about his Cochlear Implant experience. Stories like this can encourage people to take the Cochlear Implant plunge. But, also his story gives us an understanding of what to expect in terms of switch-on and rehab.
Read more about Morgan’s story…
A story from Extra Ireland Magazine sees an interview with Irish cyclist, Morgan Fox, who now has a Cochlear Implant. Morgan is now an established sports pundit.
Following his high impact cycling accident, Morgan talks about his journey into hearing loss:-
‘The deafness did not start straight away or perhaps I didn’t notice it as I was in intensive care for a long time and then various hospitals. I was dealing with a lot of other injuries including internal.’
Morgan ended up on TV later that summer as a pundit for cycling at the Olympics Games in London. He said it was fun at the time but he was noticing he was struggling to hear.
It was his cousin’s fiancee Sinead, an audiologist, who noticed something was up.
Losing his hearing had a huge impact on family life. Morgan lost his hearing at the same time his wife Maria was pregnant with their son Keelan, their daughter Farah just two years old.
He said: ‘Being deaf was very difficult. The small things like trusting myself to babysit alone or not being able to understand what little Farah wanted for breakfast… I cried a lot in private.
‘I was locked away in my own quiet world whilst trying to “man up” to it on the outside.’
He decided to take the Cochlear Implant plunge with support from his local Cochlear Implant centre:-
‘So despite some silly concerns from me about losing the tiny bit of hearing I had left or miraculously regaining my hearing someday, I went for it.’
Morgan talks about openly about switch-on and rehab:-
The reality for an adult who has had hearing all of their lives is that the switch on is a series of beeps, whistles, hissing and vague speech recognition. But you are prepared for this by the Cochlear Implant team.
‘Then the training starts. The rehab, the relearning speech and sounds. Flash cards with the alphabet, online audio tools, incredible after care at the Beaumont. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, tuning, practice practice practice.
‘I learned how to hear again with my baby son learning how to talk who was also doing his flash cards ,and big sister teaching us. Sitting at the table with mammy training supervising .’
Since the implant from Prof. Viana, Morgan’s life has changed completely. He has regained his confidence and is more driven to get back to a high level of communication.
Morgan now runs Ireland’s only professional cycling team EvoPro racing. He said about the business: ‘My role is completely communicative across multiple platforms and multiple languages — communicating via two-way radios, telephone, meetings and debriefings.’
Read the full article here:
https://extra.ie/2019/09/29/news/real-life/irish-cyclist-morgan-fox-accident-deaf
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