I was stone deaf for 39 years – hearing for the first time was a miracle

I was born profoundly deaf and had a happy early childhood. Wearing a phonic ear box – an old-style hearing aid strapped to my chest – helped me get a sense of the environment around me.

Sounds were still very indistinct, and from the age of two I lip-read because I couldn’t hear words. It was like being under water and trying to listen to the world.