Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes talks about his hearing loss

Peterborough Telegraph

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Transcript

00:00My name's Andrew Pate, I'm the Labour MP for Peterborough and I suffer from hearing loss.

00:05I've always had bad hearing, it's deteriorated a bit but then a couple of years before Covid it

00:12took a real turn and I started to lose sounds on the edge of it. But you know what's really

00:19really interesting is it's not like an on-off switch where my hearing just went,

00:24I think it deteriorated but it took other people to tell me what was happening

00:29and actually going to get my ears checked out again, getting put in for these brilliant

00:33little things I have in my ears has been one of the best things I've done in my life,

00:38not just for me but for loved ones, families and friends. Genuinely with these new hearing aids I

00:44feel like I'm back in the conversation and I think it's really interesting talking to family

00:50and friends that when my hearing was going down and I didn't really realise it that you begin to

00:58drop out of conversations. You do small things in your life which are big for other things,

01:03like always have the telly on the loudest setting which means you can't have a conversation because

01:08it's blaring out of that. But when people point it out to you that you've gone quiet,

01:13you're not part of the group as much, you're not coming to the pub as much,

01:18it got me thinking and made me realise I wanted to go and get my hearing tested and I say it's

01:23the best thing I've done. These are my magic ears which help me both be part of the room again

01:32and to help me do my job as a Member of Parliament but also, and I think it's really important,

01:38it's also given me the sense that what it's like to be an outsider. So I describe my hearing loss

01:44as one of my superpowers. It's really helped me understand what it's like to be outside

01:50looking in and I think talking to lots of people with different challenges, disabilities,

01:58different forms of hearing loss, people want to feel included and they want to feel part of

02:03something and actually if I can use some of my job to do that, using these brilliant things here,

02:08I'm going to do it. Everything was so noisy. It's amazing, you pop them in, you get them checked out

02:15and there's a whole, you know, it's like being fitted for a well-fitted suit. They have to

02:22adjust the hearing sounds and things but I was hearing things I didn't realise I wasn't hearing

02:29or I'd missed. It sounds very poetic but you could hear birds chirp when they were chirping,

02:34you could hear the rustle of paper and sounds on the outside and it took me, you know, it's like,

02:40I think it took me a good couple of weeks for my head to readjust to these new different sounds

02:45that are coming in but it's transformed my life so I'm with it. Yeah, I still look, even though

02:51I've got these brilliant machines helping me do the right thing and be part of the conversation

02:58again, there are venues which are difficult and I think lots of people with hearing loss will

03:03recognise that, you know, big halls with no soft furnishings, the sound still bounces off the

03:10walls throughout it. Sometimes when you're in big groups and there's lots of people around,

03:16that can be really noisy as well and sometimes the echo and the bounce of it can be really difficult

03:21so I still rely on looking face to face to people which I think is a good thing to do when you're

03:26involved in public life and listening to people. A little bit of self-taught lip reading on the side

03:31but also trying to find, you know, some of the quiet moments alongside some of the busy moments.

03:36They've actually got really good acoustics, I think if people have never been to Parliament

03:40but seen it on TV you can sometimes these wires with lots of microphones so you can hear quite

03:45well but when you get the big theatre of politics like Prime Minister's questions when both sides

03:51are really busy and there's all the shouting and hubbub, it can be difficult to hear and I think

03:56that's one of the challenges I've got to learn over these next few months is how to use my hearing

04:03to intervene on behalf of people in Peterborough in this new environment. I'm often asked what

04:09would I say to someone who's hesitant about getting their hearing tested or they may be worried but

04:15not sure what to do next. My advice to them was go and do it, it's like having a quick MOT, you can

04:20book in via your doctor or some of the high street services, it's quick and easy, it's not intrusive

04:27and what it's done to me is really transformed my life so go out and do it and I particularly say

04:32that to fellows, I think fellows of my age often we can just let the world pass us by but it's

04:38really helped me get on in life, get on better with my friends, be part of social groups, do my job

04:44better because being able to hear or being able to take part in conversations is such an important

04:50part of daily life. I think it's absolutely brilliant that we have the CDA here in Peterborough

04:57and they've got the support and funding now to do drop-in clubs and other social environments where

05:03people with hearing loss can come together. I would really have appreciated some local services

05:08when my hearing was deteriorated but it was a whole new learning opportunity for me about what's

05:14out there and what you do about it. With CDA I hope more people find out about the services, if

05:20you're worried about your hearing, if you've got hearing loss, go along, be part of the group, share

05:25your experiences and let's learn together because it's all about making our lives better.

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