Holloway's tears over 'missing out' due to hearing loss

9 hours ago

Lucy Tegg,Bristoland

Joe Sims,Bristol

The couple have spoken to the BBC as part of its Wake Up Call health campaign

BBC Ian and Kim Holloway stand close together. Kim wears a green cardigan and pattern top. She has blonde wavy chin-length hair, and wears round glasses. She is smiling. Ian wears a blue velvet jacket, blue waistcoat, white open-necked shirt with spots. He has a grey/white goatee beard, and wears a flat cap on his head. He is smiling as he leans in towards his wife. — The couple have spoken to the BBC as part of its Wake Up Call health campaign

Football manager Ian Holloway has revealed how hearing loss has had a huge impact on three generations of his family.

Holloway spoke about his two daughters being diagnosed as profoundly deaf as toddlers, and two of his grandchildren needing cochlear implants during BBC Radio Bristol's Wake Up Call health campaign.

He recalled how he and his wife, Kim, watched as a hearing expert rang a bell behind their twins.

"She said 'let them play', and she waited until they were paying no attention to us, and she rang the bell. They didn't move," he said.

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"We had the worry of 'what are they going to be like', 'what are they going to be doing.'

"Your kids are like a jigsaw puzzle, but there was no picture on the front of our box because we didn't know what being deaf was like."

Speaking to Joe Sims' Wake Up Call on BBC Radio Bristol, the Swindon Town manager, from Kingswood, and his wife discussed whether they had ever wished their daughters could hear.

Holloway said he felt privileged and proud of them.

"Is it easier if they're hearing? Yes, it is. But can you be unbelievably amazing? Yes, you can," he said.

"They have frustration in their lives because it's not fair, and there's an awful lot of frustration that deaf people have because we don't include them, nowhere near enough."

Kim Holloway said as a parent you "want to take away any difficulties, don't you?", but "it's enhanced our lives incredibly".

Ian Holloway shared his experiences of hearing loss with the BBC's Joe Sims

The image shows a radio studio. Sitting in the foreground is Kim Holloway, wearing a green cardigan, jeans and beige trainers. Behind her is Ian Holloway sitting in a dark suit talking to the radio presenter Joe Sims. He wears a dark top, glasses and a baseball cap. He is sitting next to a microphone, behind the desk in the studio. — Ian Holloway shared his experiences of hearing loss with the BBC's Joe Sims

Holloway also spoke about how his life has been transformed by being fitted with a hearing aid himself.

"I could tell I was annoying my lovely lady – 'Pardon, what, what, pardon?' – and she has got a quiet voice, so I made all these excuses, and it was terrible," he said.

"When I finally went to get [the hearing aids] and put them on, I can't describe it, I had tears in my eyes."

According to the British Academy of Audiology, one in six adults in the UK is affected by hearing loss and eight million of those are aged 60 or over.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said many adults live with hearing loss for up to 10 years before seeking help or being referred for treatment.

Holloway said he was shocked to learn people delay having their hearing checked and urged others to book a test.

"You wouldn't do that with your eyes, would you?," he said.

Joe Sims' Wake Up Call campaign on BBC Radio Bristol will visit four locations in May, taking an NHS roadshow with it.

They are: The Hub, Lockleaze, 15 May, Yate Leisure Centre , on 21 May, Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership on 29 May, and For All Healthy Living Centre Bournville, Weston-super-Mare, on 5 June.

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