The boy made deaf by a cotton bud

Jan 29 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

A SCHOOLBOY without hearing in one ear for nine years was suddenly cured of his deafness when a cotton wool bud popped out of his ear.

Jerome Bartens, 11, was diagnosed as deaf in his right ear when he was just two.

He struggled at school, was unable to hear the television properly and was forced to deal with people having to shout at him.

But Jerome was playing pool with his friends in a church hall one day when he heard a popping noise in his ear.

He put his finger in his ear and found the tip of a cotton wool bud which had been wedged there for almost 10 years.

His family believe Jerome was a toddler when he put the cotton bud in his ear and the centimetre-long cotton tip came off the plastic stem.

Jerome’s single dad Carsten, 45, of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, said, “It was just incredible – his hearing returned to normal in an instant.

“He was cured as suddenly as he became deaf.

“I had always suspected Jerome had stuck something in his ear when he was little and that was causing the problem.

“But the doctors and hearing specialists said it was wax and he would probably grow out of it.

“I am amazed they didn’t spot something as obvious as a cotton wool bud.”

Jerome has kept the waxy cotton bud as a souvenir of his nine years of deafness on his right side.

His family believe that as he grew the bud was been forced out and finally came out nine years later.

Lorry driver Carsten – who has two older daughters Takita, 16, and Tiffany, 14, – says he’s “thrilled” that Jerome’s hearing has come back.

He said, “If he was playing down the garden I would have to shout for him eight or nine times before he would respond.

“But now he has 100% hearing and he’s just a normal boy again.”