Audiologist Paula wins national award after being nominated by a very special patient

Paula Cook of Aston Hearing has been awarded the national title of Audiologist of the Year 2019 for the United Kingdom. Paula then went on to compete against other audiologists from France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland for the coveted title of European Audiologist of the Year which she went on to win.

Paula was nominated by her client Heather Cooper, who now lives in Turkey.

Paula and the team at Aston Hearing have helped Heather who suffers from hearing loss for 17 years but Paula became particularly close to Heather when she arranged to take her summer holiday in Turkey at a resort near Heather’s new home because a dear friend of Heather’s, Dora, was struggling with her hearing and Heather was at a loss, not knowing how to help.

After arranging to take her audiology equipment on the plane, Paula wasted no time in visiting the pair and assessing Dora’s hearing, fitting her with hearing aids from the Aston Hearing stock, to save on cost.

Describing the day Heather said: “The day that Dora was fitted with hearing aids was a day I will never forget. Paula was so kind and appreciated that Dora would find the introduction of sound at this stage of her life quite daunting, having very poor hearing for the past 25 years. We took it slowly, but all our fears diminished as soon as she fitted the hearing aids to Dora – her face broke into the biggest smile I have ever seen.

"Then came the tears and emotions from all of us when Dora said to us that she could finally hear the sea."

Before becoming an audiologist Paula worked for the fire brigade, but she decided to change careers entirely after both of her children we diagnosed with a genetic hearing loss condition.

From that moment on Paula fought for her children. She became involved in every way possible to ensure that they received the best care and technology available. She was such a regular in the audiology department that they offered her a job.

Paula also does a lot of charity work in Armenia with the Starkey Foundation which provides the gift of hearing to under-privileged adults and children around the world. www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org