Champions are a breed apart. Their motivation and their dedication are far beyond average. Mohammed Ali said it best; “I hated every minute of training. But I said… Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
When the opportunity came to interview a recent cochlear implant recipient who also is a special champion I jumped at the chance. Lou Ferrigno at age twenty-one was the youngest Mr. Universe and later went on to win it two years in a row along with a long string of other wins in body-building competitions. His career included his best-recognized performance as The Incredible Hulk in the television series.
In a recent interview, Lou mentioned being bullied as a child for his hearing loss. I could identify with that. We both lost our hearing at about the same age and used analog body-worn hearing aids with a wire running to an earpiece. I was a skinny weakling, but I could not image anyone picking on Lou and live to tell the tale. After suffering with a life-long hearing loss Lou was implanted in April and is now using a Cochlear Kanso 2. Like most cochlear implant recipients, he mentions how he waited too long to get a CI. The misconceptions held him back and it was only after a friend received a CI did Lou understand the potential for getting out of the isolation of deafness and into the world of sound.
His dedication to rehabilitation is a factor to his rapid success. For a man who understands dedicated training it should come as no surprise. There is a lot to learn here about that dedication to perfecting his hearing and speech.
Lou is also the first recipient I have interviewed with experience with the Kanso 2. There is insight to this device that candidate who are deciding which Cochlear processor to choose will find helpful. TRANSCRIPTS ARE AVAILABLE AT COCHLEARIMPLANTBASICS.COM
