9 year old Hannah Gillingwater, is in urgent need of

cochlear implants.

With an increasingly rapid decline in her hearing, unless she is fitted with cochlear implants soon, she may loose the ability to hear altogether.

Hannah was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness) at the young age of 4.

Sensorineural hearing loss is a progressive disorder and unfortunately Han's rate of loss has been increasingly rapid. She has been fitted with 2 sets of hearing aids so far but she is now profoundly deaf and there are no hearing aids strong enough to meet her needs.

About a year ago Hannah's speech clarity started to deteriorate as she became increasingly deaf. It was the Speech Therapist who alerted us to the fact that Han may have now reached the end of the "hearing aid road" and that we may need to consider Cochlear Implants. Hannah was tiring quickly in the therapy sessions as she relies heavily on lip reading. What alarmed us most was that Hannah, a once bubbly and very social child, had started to withdraw from those around her.

Hannah is in need of bilateral Cochlear Implants "as a matter of urgency".

The nerves will atrophy without stimulation and she could soon be ineligible for the implants.

Hannah is a truly joyful child. She has accepted going deaf in such an inspirational manner and has worn her bright pink hearing aids with pride. She loves music and dance and she participates eagerly in all related activities. Receiving the implants will mean that these positives in her life remain. We have been told that should she not be able to receive the implants then she will not be able to remain in mainstream schooling and we will need to consider teaching Hannah sign language. We feel she has lost enough already and we will do everything we can to give Han what she needs to continue being a joy filled child.

Please help us raise the necessary funds to sponsor Hannah's cochlear implants and help her to hear!