‘I lost my hearing at 26 and struggled to even have conversations with my friends’ – My London

A man from Hackney who has lost a substantial amount of his hearing at 26 said he realised something was wrong when he couldn’t understand his friends in conversations. Hearing loss is something commonly associated with old age when in fact it can affect anyone.

Marion Marincat, now 37, told MyLondon : “I realised in conversations I wasn’t able to understand what some people were saying. It was very confusing. I could hear some voices, but not others. These were my friends, people I had known for years. So initially I thought it was just my ears were blocked from something. So I tried to pop them for months.”

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He added: “Then I also started to hear ringing in my ears that I used to only hear after loud events, but this time it was permanent. So after about six months, I just couldn’t participate in conversations anymore. I couldn’t hear even when people were almost shouting at me, and my partner at the time didn’t know how to speak to me anymore – because of it.”

Marion Marincat suffered an 80% reduction in his hearing at age 26. Now, he is on a mission to show why excessive noise is a problem for not just those with hearing difficulties
(Image: Marion Marincat)

After six months of this sudden change, Marion decided to go get his hearing checked out. It was found that he had suffered an 80 per cent hearing reduction. In the UK, approximately 11 million people suffer from hearing loss and around 900,000 from severe loss.

According to research by Hearing Link, 6.7 million people could benefit from hearing aids but only 2 million use them. It is the second most common disability affecting people in the UK.

Marion’s diagnosis meant he struggled to engage in conversation if people weren’t looking directly at him and he had to spend a lot of money on different technology in the hope of getting his hearing back.

Marion founded Mumbli in 2018 after experincing an 80 per cent reduction in his hearing at age 26
(Image: Rahil Ahmad)

“At the beginning of my hearing reduction, I couldn’t use headphones anymore,” he explained. “Going out meant loud and distorted sounds, so I couldn’t enjoy music anymore.

“And the pleasure of going out to listen to music – gigs, festivals, concerts started to be taken away. But then, when I started wearing hearing devices, some of those joys were given back.

“…….

Source: https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/i-lost-hearing-26-struggled-23308883