The annual competition is organised by hearing aid battery manufacturer Rayovac in partnership with Audio Infos magazine, the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA) and the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH). Now in its twelfth year, the competition honours the top hearing professional in each participating country, nominated by their patients, who have received excellent levels of support, service and care from their audiologist.
Paula was nominated by her client Heather Cooper, who now lives in Turkey, having retired there following the death of her husband several years ago. The former client of Aston Hearing was pleased to hear again from staff at the clinic after liking one of their social media posts on Facebook and was delighted they still remembered her.
“From that point I kept in regular contact with them,” Heather said: “It was reassuring as, when they learned of my change in situation, they kindly offered to help in any way possible to keep me hearing – even from afar.”
Following a serious fall during which Heather injured her back, she contacted the clinic for advice. With a broken bone in her back and in a great deal of pain, Heather had contacted a neighbour, Dora, for help and the two had become friends. There was, however, an obstacle standing in the way of their communication: her neighbour, Dora, was profoundly hard of hearing. This had become a source of great frustration to them both.
Eager to help a client of Aston Hearing for 17 years, Paula arranged to take her summer holiday in Turkey at a resort near Heather’s new home. Having arranged for her audiology equipment to be taken by plane, she wasted no time in arranging to visit the pair and assess Dora’s hearing, fitting her with hearing aids from the clinic’s stock to save on cost.