A profoundly deaf Mthatha child is well on her way to hearing sounds for the first time after undergoing a successful cochlear implant operation.
Little Qiqa Njiva, 3, went under the knife on Friday for the life-changing operation at Mthatha Private Hospital because the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital (NMAH) was having problems with the cooling systems in their theatre.
She received the operation free of charge.
This was the first time the procedure had been performed at the hospital.
The device will be switched on after four weeks to allow for the wound to heal.
Professor Charles Myataza who led the operation said at three years Qiqa was already late to be implanting the cochlea.
“If it is done too late the brain function of hearing is taken over by other senses, so for a child to benefit from this type of surgery it has to be done early,” he said before going for the more than three-hour operation. He was assisted by Dr Iain Butler, a private specialist from Port Elizabeth.
The small hairline electrode which will help Qiqa to hear sounds is inserted only once in the inner ear but a processor which gives electrical current to the implant will be changed after a few years.
“The child will start to make out sounds like a newborn baby,” he said.
Qiqa’s mother, Sinovuyo Njiva, 23, said she only found out that her daughter was deaf when she was two and a half years old.
“She could not project sounds that children her age do.
“We do not have history of hearing problems at home and so we were a little reluctant but we took her to the hospital,” Njiva said.
“It was no one’s fault. I prayed for a miracle. She had hearing aids that we hoped would help. She acted like a normal child, very playful.
The young mother said she would forever be grateful to the hospital for the operation.
“I am very happy because now we won’t be paying for a special school.”..