"The CI has opened up a new chapter in my life."

My name is Heinz, I come from Lower Austria and I have a cochlear implant on one side. My hearing loss is largely due to noise work in steel construction. I was first fitted with conventional hearing aids in the mid-1990s, but several sudden hearing losses eventually took away almost all of my hearing on the right side. The hearing loss was a psychological burden for me and I withdrew more and more. In 2017, I was first made aware of the possibility of a cochlear implant at St. Pölten University Hospital. After extensive research and the best information from a mentor, I was finally implanted in 2018.

At first I was startled by the new noises and sounds, not everything sounded good straight away. But I soon realized what a great achievement I had on my head! The mental stress was gone and the tinnitus hardly stood a chance. I became more and more isolated and was able to take part in my public life again. I'm happy about everything I can hear again, but most of all about being able to make music again myself (I'm passionate about playing the harmonica).