Weybridge woman Emma Boardman speaks out for national hearing awareness month
8:00am Tuesday 11th September 2012 in News By Patrick Grafton-Green
Not easy: Emma Boardman eventually took action
A Weybridge woman has spoken of her distressing loss of hearing as part of national hearing awareness month.
Emma Boardman, 38, began to suffer from hearing loss at school but only sought help when she encountered problems in her career in television.
She then went to Hidden Hearing, which is doing 20,000 free screenings throughout September
She said: “I went into TV presenting which proved to be an absolute nightmare with my hearing issues. I went to see a doctor who referred me to the hospital. Everyone said they were shocked I had lasted so long with the poor level of hearing I had.”
The problem was so bad she felt she could no longer pursue that line of work.
In the UK, 10m people are affected by significant hearing loss, but only one in 10 seeks help from the onset, with many waiting as long as five to 10 years.
Ms Boardman admitted it was not easy for her to ask for a hearing test.
She said: “I found it very embarrassing to admit I had a hearing problem and go to get tested. It felt silly being young and asking for help with hearing.”
For more about national hearing month, visit hearingawarenessmonth.co.uk.
