Hearing aid donation allows Lancaster man to reconnect with family and secure his job – Yahoo News
LANCASTER — For Lancaster resident Jerry Koehler, 50, hearing loss has been an issue for nearly 20 years, gradually getting worse.
Jerry Koehler, right, and his wife Ashley check out his new hearing aid, donated by the Miracle Ear Foundation, on Dec. 30. The hearing aids will help Jerry keep his commercial driver’s license.
Besides threatening his job, the loss had also put a strain on his home life, causing tension between his wife and four children.
In December, Koehler …….
LANCASTER — For Lancaster resident Jerry Koehler, 50, hearing loss has been an issue for nearly 20 years, gradually getting worse.
Jerry Koehler, right, and his wife Ashley check out his new hearing aid, donated by the Miracle Ear Foundation, on Dec. 30. The hearing aids will help Jerry keep his commercial driver’s license.
Besides threatening his job, the loss had also put a strain on his home life, causing tension between his wife and four children.
In December, Koehler received two hearing aids thanks to the Miracle Ear Foundation, and he’s said it’s already made a huge difference for his family and his job.
MEF’s Gift of Sound program helps children and adults with hearing loss gain access to hearing aids. The program is designed for people who demonstrate a personal inability to financially provide for their hearing health needs.
Koehler said he’s known about his hearing loss since 2003, but they’re expensive, so he’d held off getting any. Then, there was a renewed sense of urgency to find a solution, as an exam to keep his commercial driver’s license was coming in January.
“My wife stays with the kids, I’m the sole breadwinner in our family. That job is all we have to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I needed to make sure I could pass the examination, but the biggest concern over my hearing was the lack of communication with my family,” Koehler said. “It’s caused some strain recently. I have to ask my wife to repeat herself, and I have to ask what the kids have said. They’ve felt ignored and frustrated to have to repeat themselves so often.”
Koehler said they’d seen a flier advertising for affordable hearing aids, and had visited the Miracle Ear office in Lancaster. He was told the advertised hearing aids wouldn’t work with his condition, but the technician helped Koehler apply for the Gift of Sound program.
“That visit was on Dec. 18, and I was able to get the hearing aids on Dec. 30. It was miraculous. Without the hearing aids, my hearing was at maybe 20%, but with them, it instantly jumped to 60%, and it’s been so much better,” he said. “I can’t really hear the higher register, or consonants. I had sort of trained myself to read lips, but that meant I had to be facing whoever I was talking to.”
“Now, I don’t even need the subtitles on the TV anymore, and things can only get better from here.”
Mike Gedeon, an operations manager with Miracle Ear and a franchisee, said the benefits the Koehlers have experienced so far …….
Source: https://news.yahoo.com/hearing-aid-donation-allows-lancaster-103204681.html
