The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Student undergoes cochlear implant surgery

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 01, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Student undergoes cochlear implant surgery

Staff Reporter

Courtesy the Southern Railway Hospital and KKR ENT Hospital

CHENNAI: After 16 years of silence, Ajay Khanna will be able to hear again. This first-year engineering student recently underwent a free cochlear implant surgery, courtesy the Southern Railway Hospital and KKR ENT Hospital.

Ajay lost the power of hearing when he was two. He was afflicted with meningitis and the strong medication used to treat him affected his auditory nerve.

"We met several doctors to find out if he could be treated. But they only recommended a hearing aid, which did not help him at all," said Ajay's mother Vallinayagi, who works in the commercial department of Southern Railway.

His impairment did not keep Ajay from performing well at school. He studied at the CSI School for the Deaf till class VI and went on to Santhome Higher Secondary School. Ajay would sit in the first row to lip read what his teachers said and copy notes from the blackboard. His hard work won him a computer science seat in Velammal College of Engineering.

Ajay's parents continued to look at treatment options. A. Elangovan, medical director of the railway hospital, sent their application to the Railway Board, which sanctioned Rs. 5 lakh for cochlear implant.

Dr. Ravi Ramalingam of KKR ENT Hospital performed the surgery free of cost.

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