Martinborough family hoping for implant

Just five months after her first cochlear implant Emily Robinson can talk to her parents and loves dancing to music.

Now thanks to the generosity of a stranger, a second implant may come sooner than thought.

Martinborough mum Corina Lawson said she was overwhelmed by the news that Wellington woman Maria Mullane would be throwing a fundraiser for three families working towards second cochlear implant devices for their hearing-impaired children.

"Just to think that someone who's been through it before would then go out of their way to help other families. Though we've always said that too, if we raise more money than we need we'd donate that money to the next Wairarapa child."

Cochlear implants allow the profoundly deaf to hear - they cost about $50,000 and the Government pays for one, but families must pay for the second.

Ms Lawson said the first has made a significant impact on her child's life and the second would make all the difference.

"It's the quality of hearing, a bit more quality of life for Emily, the ability to hear better in noisy situations. We just want her to have the best ability to hear, that second implant would do that for her.

"We want her to be as normal as possible, develop as normally as her peer group and have the same opportunities."

Corina and husband Ed Robinson have already started organising fundraisers for the second implant, with St Andrew's Church hosting a dinner on November 3 and a charity dinner and auction is being planned for February.

Businesswoman Ms Mullane has been through it all before - she said fundraising for her son Rory's second implant was a struggle.

Hopes pinned on second hearing device

Not only were we dealing with the fact that our baby was deaf, but having to look at our life and employment.Maria Mullane, mum "It was a really difficult time for our family. Not only were we dealing with the fact that our baby was deaf, but having to look at our life and employment and make all these decisions about what could we afford."

She vowed that when she was through it she would help someone else.

The Southern Cochlear Implant Programme connected Ms Mullane with the three families who were fundraising for a second cochlear implant. She did not know any of the families.

Ms Mullane is organising a cocktail dinner and auction for Loud Shirt Day on September 21, at which she hopes to raise up to $10,000 which she will split across three families, including Emily Robinson's.

She still has 40 tickets to sell, and what she'd really like to see is a bus organised so Wairarapa people could attend the event.

Ms Mullane said the second implant had made a huge difference to her 2-year-old particularly in terms of communication.

She estimates that if the Government paid for a second implant for those who are eligible it would likely cost about $500,000 to $600,000 a year more.

"What's a lifetime's worth of costs of support services that a deaf person needs? Everything they need in order to integrate with hearing community ... it just doesn't add up."

You can find out more about cochlear implants, make donations or buy tickets to the Wellington fundraiser on September 21 at www.thegiftofsound.co.nz