The Audiology Department at Royal Cornwall Hospital received a generous donation of £2,035 from the mother of a 15-month-old little girl after sheb was found to be profoundly deaf when she was six-weeks-old.

Cathy Nowell from Camborne found out her daughter, Jessica, was hard of hearing after the routine hearing test provided by RCHT’s newborn hearing screening programme.

At first it was thought she had glue ear but upon further testing, her condition was diagnosed. “We found that Jessica was profoundly deaf just before Christmas 2012, following numerous tests”, said Cathy. “It was such a shock to all of us.”

After seeing audiology experts at RCHT, Jessica went on to have a cochlear implant fitted at Nottingham Hospital when she was just 11 months old and had it turned on for the first time a week after her first birthday.

“She really didn’t like it at first but she is now able to pick up on people’s voices, especially my voice” stated Cathy.

As Cathy was so impressed with the care her daughter and family received at the Royal Cornwall Hospital throughout the time of her diagnosis and preparation for surgery, she decided to hold a charity event, hosted by Johnny Cowling and Gareth Lee at Camborne Rugby Club to raise money for the department.

“There was live music, a raffle and an auction, with donations from several business, including a 2 night stay at The Queens Hotel in Penzance and a three course meal for two at the Logan Rock at St Levan.

"It was a great night, so many people turned up and made generous donations” revealed Cathy. “We just wanted to be able to give something back to the hospital, as they have been so supportive during this time, with reassuring phone calls and a fast referral to Nottingham for Jessica to have the operation.”

Cathy also received a £500 contribution from Dairy Crest, who she is employed by, to put towards the final amount raised.

Julie Folkard, Head of Audiology at RCHT, was extremely grateful for the donation and says they hope to put it towards ways to make hearing tests easier for children.

“We are so thankful to receive this donation from Cathy, it is brilliant that they managed to raise so much money” said Julie.

“Cathy has been in discussions with John Middleton, our Chief Audiologist about how she would like to see the money spent and we are looking into specialist chairs for children to sit in whilst having hearing tests.”