- .Chloe Ring was born with dual sensory loss - she was deaf and blind
- .Her hearing loss was detected at a week-old and she was four months old when her parents Jane and Neil Ring were told she was also blind
- .In early 2009 the family first met with the cochlear implant team at Bristol's children hospital to discuss the option of an operation
- .On August 4, 2009 Chloe was fitted with two cochlear implants
- .Her parents then faced a four-week wait to see if the operation had worked
- .On September 3, 2009 Chloe's 'world opened up' at her switch-on
- .Mrs Ring said: 'Opportunities have opened up in front of our little girl'
A beaming smile sweeps across her face and suddenly Chloe Ring's tiny head is bobbing up and down.
Sitting on her mother Jane's lap she stops still for a second consumed by a puzzled look, as she tries to comprehend the enormity of what is happening. Seconds later she starts bobbing her head once more, immersed in the excitement of sound.
Mrs Ring will never forget the special moment, it was September 3, 2009, the day her now five-year-old daughter's life was opened up to the world.
As doctors at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children turned on Chloe's cochlear implants, one at a time, her face radiates sheer amazement.
A beaming smile sweeps across tiny Chloe Ring's face as doctors switch-on her cochlear implants, allowing the then 14-month-old to hear for the first time
Puzzled by what was happening the toddler stops still her face overcome with concentration as she tries to comprehend the sounds around her
Sitting on mother Jane Ring's knee, Chloe suddenly starts nodding her head, bobbing up and down as she gets used to hearing Mrs Ring's voice for the first time
Until that point, Chloe's world had been silent and isolated.
She spent her days lying on her back at the family's home in Exeter trying to make sense of her life without sound or sight.
When she was just a week old, doctors told Mrs Ring and her husband Neil - who also has a hearing loss - that their precious child was profoundly deaf.
Four months later, as the couple battled a rollercoaster of emotions coming to terms with the fact Chloe would never hear their voices, their world fell apart.
After detecting a lazy eye, doctors ordered more tests, which showed Chloe was also blind.
Mrs Ring said due to her husband having a hearing loss, Chloe was given a hearing test just a day after she was born.
They had been told that his condition could not be passed onto any offspring the couple may have.
Describing the feeling, when Chloe was a week old and tests revealed she was profoundly deaf, Mrs Ring told MailOnline: 'It was really devastating. For us, and for Neil's family - they were going through it all again.
Chloe, who is now five years old, was born deaf and blind. When she was a week old her parents Jane and Neil Ring were told tests had shown their daughter could not hear
When Chloe was four months old, doctors gave her parents Neil and Jane the heartbreaking news that not only was their child deaf, but she was also blind. Mrs Ring said: 'Our world fell apart. It felt really, really dark'
In August 2009 Chloe underwent a five-hour operation to have cochlear implants fitted
'Those first few days are all a bit of a blur, in a way. You are trying to deal with what's happening and face it, but everything happens so fast.
'We were immediately referred to a raft of specialists, audiologists and others, there was no time to stop and take it all in.'
As the whirlwind of hospital appointments consumed the couple, Mrs Ring said she and her husband had not even contemplated something might be wrong with their newborn's eyes.
'I have worked with children with disabilities and in deaf arts,' she said. 'I love reading and so finding out Chloe was deaf and the thought of not being able to read to my daughter was really devastating.
'Our world fell apart. It felt really, really dark. All the things we had thought about, sign language... all of it was no longer possible'
- Jane Ring
'But at the back of my mind, I knew that we would have sign language, at the time that was what I held on to as our way through it.'
At Chloe's eight-week check, a doctor told her parents they had detected a lazy eye.
'It was the first time I had thought about her sight,' said Mrs Ring. 'But when the doctor said that, I think I realised. She didn't seem to register things when we moved in front of her.'
It was another month before Chloe's first eye appointment.
It was then that the couple received the devastating diagnosis. Not only was their tiny daughter deaf, but she was also blind.
'Our world fell apart,' Mrs Ring told MailOnline. 'It felt really, really dark.
'All the things we had thought about, sign language, different ways of communicating with her, all of it was no longer possible.
Chloe's parents said they chose to go-ahead with the operation after learning their daughter would never be able to talk, even with hearing aids
Chloe's operation took place at Bristol's children hospital on August 4, 2009
Mrs Ring said: 'You never know, as a parent, if you are doing the right thing. We were still trying to make sense of everything and there was no guarantee it would work. But it has been the most amazing thing'
On September 3, 2009 Chloe's family once again returned to Bristol's children hospital where specialist switched-on her implants. Her mother Jane, said: 'She just responded, as soon as she was given sound, our little girl's world opened up'
'That was the day I called the charity Sense. They have been absolutely amazing. They had a family support worker get in touch straight away, we were put in touch with teachers for the deaf, teachers for the blind, she had a deaf inclusion worker assigned to her case.'
'If a child is deaf, you have visual and facial expressions,' said Mrs Ring.
'But that wouldn't work for Chloe. If a child can't see, sound is really reassuring, but she didn't even have that.'
Chloe's case has baffled medics. She has no underlying condition that explains why she was born without the ability to hear or see.
'IT HAS COMPLETELY OPENED UP CHLOE'S WORLD, WE'RE SO PROUD'
'Opportunities have opened up in front of our little girl,' Mrs Ring, who started a blog to share her experiences, said.
'You could tell she was bright before, but so much of life was cut off from her. But now, she is active, and she is an amazing chatterbox.
'Her speech is incredible, you wouldn't know that she was deaf. It is utterly amazing.
'Almost immediately she was motivated, she started crawling properly, she had something she could follow now, sounds.
'Her development just took off, she came along so quickly.
'She had always loved me singing, she would hold my throat to feel the vibrations.
'Now, she can sing, we started going to a music class six months after her implants were switched on.
'She is at a normal, mainstream primary school and we never thought that would be possible. She is the first deafblind child to achieve that in Devon.
'As a parent of a deafblind daughter you are so afraid of your child's future, how she will communicate, find friends.
'She was going to struggle in the deaf community, because she couldn't sign.
'We now sit between two worlds. We are partly in the visually impaired world as well as the deaf community.
'She is incredibly unique, so bright and such a problem solver. She has got sound and she uses it, she hasn't looked back. She sees through sound.
'It has completely opened up her world, we are so, so proud of her.'
Doctors assured her parents that Mr Ring's hearing loss could not be passed on, and more tests since Chloe's birth have revealed no clues.
'Chloe's case is very unusual,' said Mrs Ring. 'Most children who are deafblind have other conditions, like CHARGE or Usher Syndrome.
'But that isn't the case for Chloe. She is a pretty big medical mystery.'
It was Chloe's audiologists at Bristol's children hospital, and her specialist teaching team who told the Rings about the possibility for cochlear implants.
At six weeks old Chloe was fitted with hearing aids, to allow her to sense vibrations. It gave her parents hope, but made their decision over the implants that much harder.
But it was when Mrs Ring discovered her daughter would never be able to talk, even with the help of her hearing aids, that her mind was made up.
'She's such a communicator, even putting her hearing aids she would try to make sounds, but it wasn't until we had further tests that we were told that there would be no chance of Chloe ever speaking, even with her hearing aids,' she said.
'As soon as someone told us Chloe would never speak, we started to really seriously consider the implants.'
Their first meeting with the cochlear implant team was at the start of 2009.
'We were still in shock,' said Mrs Ring. 'We had been to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for more tests. Doctors reassessed Neil to see if his condition held any clues as to what was wrong with Chloe.
'We really wanted to make sure that the implants were the right choice.
'It is a five-hour operation and they drill into your baby's head, you want to make sure that you are making the right decision.
'The team from Bristol came to our home, to assess Chloe in her surroundings.
'It is a very important process, it is an expensive procedure, so they have to be sure your child is right for the treatment.
'They would have liked her to be implanted at a year. But in the end she was about 14 months.
'You never know, as a parent, if you are doing the right thing. We were still trying to make sense of everything and there was no guarantee it would work. The implants don't work for every child.
'But it has been the most amazing thing.'
Chloe pictured at a day old with her father Neil, who also has a hearing loss
Chloe pictured on her first day at school (left) and her first day at nursery (right). Mrs Ring said her daughter is the first deafblind child in Devon to attend a mainstream primary school
Mrs Ring said: 'It has completely opened up her world, we are so, so proud of her'
The evening prior to Chloe's operation, which took place on August 4, 2009, the family travelled from their Exeter home to the hospital in Bristol to give the toddler a chance to settle into her unfamiliar surroundings.
'Her life before the implants was very small, she lay on her back a lot and she suffered developmental delay and lacked motivation,' Mrs Ring told MailOnline.
'She sometimes crawled on her tummy but she never went far. She would reach out and touch things but it was limited. She couldn't see or hear what was around her, so didn't know to move about.'
AROUND 250,000 PEOPLE IN THE UK ARE DEAFBLIND, SAYS SENSE
Deafblindness is a combination of both sight and hearing difficulties.
Some of these people are completely deaf and blind, but others have some remaining use of one or both senses.
Most of what we learn about the world comes through our ears and eyes, so deafblind people can often face problems with communication, access to information and mobility.
People can be born deafblind, or become deafblind through illness, accident or in older age.
There are currently around 250,000 deafblind people in the UK.
Sense provides specialist information, advice and services to all deafblind people, their families, carers and the professionals who work with them.
Further information can be found on Sense’s website.
'The day of Chloe's operation was the longest day of my life,' she said.
'My mum and dad came up. The surgeons have to do one side and check it is right before they can start on the second side, hence why it takes so long.
'We waited at my parents' hotel, went to a cafe and tried to play Scrabble.'
But despite the operation being a success. The family faced a nerve-wracking four-week wait before specialists could switch the implants on, and see if they had worked.
During that time Chloe's world fell completely silent once more.
She was not allowed to wear her hearing aids - the window to her world had been taken away.
Mrs Ring said they doubled their efforts to play with Chloe, and be as tactile as they could.
'She was too young to understand. We did baby massage and spent lots of time in a dark room with bright lights,' she said.
'It felt like such a long time, we were desperately hoping it would work.
'As well as the operation and switch-on there is the rehab. You are warned your child will try to pull the implants off, for a lot of people it is a real shock.'
On September 3, 2009, the family once again made the trip to Bristol children's hospital, where specialists were to turn on Chloe's implants.
Sitting on her knee and playing with her toys, the toddler appeared in her own little world.
But as the doctor slowly increased the sound, turning the first implant on, and then the second, Chloe's face came to life. She beamed, bobbing up and down excitedly on her mother's knee.
'She just responded, as soon as she was given sound, our little girl's world opened up,' Mrs Ring told MailOnline.
'She just responded, as soon as she was given sound, our little girl's world opened up'
'Initially she smiles and then she went still, she was trying to work out what was happening.
'She tried to pull it off, she pulled at her ear a bit. But the best reaction was when they turned the second implant on.
'She was looking around and playing with the toys, and then when they switch on the second, she just lights up.
'It is like she was suddenly switched on. She absolutely loved sound, from the moment she was given it.'
'I was overjoyed. You feel like you are taking this massive risk with your tiny, precious child,' she added. 'But I could see straight away, it had all been worth it.'
Steve Rose, Head of Sense Children’s Specialist Services, said: ‘Most of what we learn about the world comes from our senses of sight and hearing, so children like Chloe who are both deaf and blind face many barriers.
'But with the right support, tailored to their individual needs, deafblind children can achieve so much. Sense has been supporting Chloe, her family and the professionals who work with her to help her to communicate and learn.
'Everyone who works with her at Sense is incredibly proud of what she’s achieved. Our main focus is always on what deafblind children can do, instead of dwelling on what they can’t.’
'IT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING': 40-YEAR-OLD JO MILNE HEARS FOR FIRST TIME
They are seven simple words we all take for granted.
But as Joanne Milne heard her doctor recite the days of the week, she was overwhelmed with emotion, fighting back tears and gasping to catch her breath.
Until that moment the 40-year-old's world had been silent.
Born with the rare condition Usher Syndrome, Ms Milne has been deaf since birth and in her mid-20s the condition claimed her sight.
Joanne Milne underwent an operation to fit cochlear implants earlier this year
But last month Ms Milne underwent a life-changing operation to fit cochlear implants.
Following the procedure, she faced a four-week wait for medics to switch on the implants to see if the operation had been a success.
Hearing for first time, a video capturing the switch-on shows Ms Milne breaking down as she tells her doctor her own voice sounds 'very, very strange', before adding: 'Wow, it is absolutely amazing.'
Ms Milne said the switch-on has been the 'most emotional and overwhelming experience' of her life.
Ms Milne said the switch-on has been the 'most emotional and overwhelming experience' of her life.
She said: 'I’m still in shock now. I have to learn to recognise what these sounds are as I build a sound library in my brain.
'Hearing things for the first time is so emotional from the ping of a light switch to running water.
'I can’t stop crying and I can already foresee how it’s going to be life changing.'
'I’m so happy. Over the last 48 hours hearing someone laughing behind me, the birds twittering and just being with friends... they didn’t have to tap my arm to get my attention which a massive leap.'
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