Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
The Gold Coast Bulletin | News from the Gold Coast and around Australia
LITTLE Michael Murphy has had his 'ears' stolen -- the profoundly deaf four-year-old being robbed of sound after callous thieves stole his bionic ear in a home robbery on Thursday night.
While Michael, and his parents Michelle Green and Joe Murphy, were sleeping on Thursday night, thieves managed to force their way through a screen door and get inside their Ancona Street, Carrara, home.
They didn't stay long -- escaping with a Sony laptop, a 1999 black Holden Commodore and Michael's $11,000 cochlear ear implant -- his only way of hearing.
The devastated family, still recovering from the last home invasion 10 months ago, said it was the 'ultimate low act'.
"I just don't get it -- the ear implant is of no use to anyone," said a distraught Ms Green.
"I just find it so heartless -- my son is deaf and he doesn't understand why he woke up this morning and suddenly did not have the sound he has become used to with the implant."
Michael, a boisterous and happy four-year-old, doesn't know they were robbed.
"He keeps asking where his ears are, and we had to tell him they were broken," she said.
Michael's father Joe said while Michael was happy for the moment, he would soon withdraw into his shell without his sense of hearing.
"In a few days he'll just be sitting on the mat, not playing or doing anything," he said.
"He will withdraw because the sound is his way to interact with the world. I don't want to see him like that before school starts, no one with a heart wants to see him like that."
Michael is bilaterally deaf -- meaning he can't hear in either ear.
He has a cochlear ear implant for one ear and is awaiting surgery in March to get one for his other ear.
His parents have been busy preparing Michael for prep school, which he starts on January 28, but now their plans have been set back.
"We were getting him all sorted for prep but now he isn't going to be ready. We can't if we can't communicate with him," said Ms Green.
"This will seriously affect his progress at regular schooling, which we were hoping to send him to."
Michael knows some sign language, but it is not enough to hold a conversation.
The wait for a 'loan' ear is at least a week, with Michelle and Joe waiting for the Royal Children's Hospital to reopen their audiology department.
If he can't get a loan ear then Michael will have to be placed on a roster to wait for another one.
"We don't know if we'll be covered for the cost of the ear because they have a three-year warranty and I think we are six months outside of that," said Ms Green.
"So I guess we will just have to play the waiting game."
Mr Murphy estimated about $28,000 worth of items were stolen from the home.
"It's just written us off," he said.
"They also took the keys to Michelle's car so we can't use that -- and they may even come back for it."
Ms Green said she was at 'breaking point'.
"I've tried so hard to recover from the first robbery, and then we are hit with this," she said.
"I don't even feel safe in my own home any more.
"Whoever did this, they have no idea -- no idea what they have done to us, how tough it is.
"Even if they just return the implant, that's the thing we need the most.
"What they have done is just brazen. I can't imagine what they might have been thinking.
"The implants are all individually mapped, you can't use them with other deaf people.
"The only thing I can think of is that they might have mistaken it for an MP3 player."
Suffering the 'perversion' of being robbed twice, Ms Green said she was afraid to leave the house for fear it would be broken into again.
"I have to work shifts and I just fear coming back and finding it has happened all over again," she said.
"If people knew what heartache they were causing, they wouldn't do this -- unless they were heartless.
"If you're out there, and you have this implant, please, please just stop for a moment and return it -- don't ruin a little boy's hearing for something that is of no use to anyone but us."
Police urge anyone who may have seen anybody suspicious in the Ancona Street area on Thursday night, or with any information, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
LITTLE Michael Murphy has had his 'ears' stolen -- the profoundly deaf four-year-old being robbed of sound after callous thieves stole his bionic ear in a home robbery on Thursday night.
While Michael, and his parents Michelle Green and Joe Murphy, were sleeping on Thursday night, thieves managed to force their way through a screen door and get inside their Ancona Street, Carrara, home.
They didn't stay long -- escaping with a Sony laptop, a 1999 black Holden Commodore and Michael's $11,000 cochlear ear implant -- his only way of hearing.
The devastated family, still recovering from the last home invasion 10 months ago, said it was the 'ultimate low act'.
"I just don't get it -- the ear implant is of no use to anyone," said a distraught Ms Green.
"I just find it so heartless -- my son is deaf and he doesn't understand why he woke up this morning and suddenly did not have the sound he has become used to with the implant."
Michael, a boisterous and happy four-year-old, doesn't know they were robbed.
"He keeps asking where his ears are, and we had to tell him they were broken," she said.
Michael's father Joe said while Michael was happy for the moment, he would soon withdraw into his shell without his sense of hearing.
"In a few days he'll just be sitting on the mat, not playing or doing anything," he said.
"He will withdraw because the sound is his way to interact with the world. I don't want to see him like that before school starts, no one with a heart wants to see him like that."
Michael is bilaterally deaf -- meaning he can't hear in either ear.
He has a cochlear ear implant for one ear and is awaiting surgery in March to get one for his other ear.
His parents have been busy preparing Michael for prep school, which he starts on January 28, but now their plans have been set back.
"We were getting him all sorted for prep but now he isn't going to be ready. We can't if we can't communicate with him," said Ms Green.
"This will seriously affect his progress at regular schooling, which we were hoping to send him to."
Michael knows some sign language, but it is not enough to hold a conversation.
The wait for a 'loan' ear is at least a week, with Michelle and Joe waiting for the Royal Children's Hospital to reopen their audiology department.
If he can't get a loan ear then Michael will have to be placed on a roster to wait for another one.
"We don't know if we'll be covered for the cost of the ear because they have a three-year warranty and I think we are six months outside of that," said Ms Green.
"So I guess we will just have to play the waiting game."
Mr Murphy estimated about $28,000 worth of items were stolen from the home.
"It's just written us off," he said.
"They also took the keys to Michelle's car so we can't use that -- and they may even come back for it."
Ms Green said she was at 'breaking point'.
"I've tried so hard to recover from the first robbery, and then we are hit with this," she said.
"I don't even feel safe in my own home any more.
"Whoever did this, they have no idea -- no idea what they have done to us, how tough it is.
"Even if they just return the implant, that's the thing we need the most.
"What they have done is just brazen. I can't imagine what they might have been thinking.
"The implants are all individually mapped, you can't use them with other deaf people.
"The only thing I can think of is that they might have mistaken it for an MP3 player."
Suffering the 'perversion' of being robbed twice, Ms Green said she was afraid to leave the house for fear it would be broken into again.
"I have to work shifts and I just fear coming back and finding it has happened all over again," she said.
"If people knew what heartache they were causing, they wouldn't do this -- unless they were heartless.
"If you're out there, and you have this implant, please, please just stop for a moment and return it -- don't ruin a little boy's hearing for something that is of no use to anyone but us."
Police urge anyone who may have seen anybody suspicious in the Ancona Street area on Thursday night, or with any information, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
That's exactly why I was encouraged to learn tactile sign (PSE, SEE and ASL) at my local deafblind center. I resisted at first because I still had enough hearing to benefit from a Comtek FM system, but when the director of the center asked me how I would deal with situations where FM systems were unavailable or my FM system needed repair, I couldn't give her an answer. I learned tactile sign (as well as other alternative communication techniques for the deafblind including TeleBraille, Tellatouch, print on palm, Braille/raised print alphabet card, fingerbraille, Braille realtime captioning, computer use with Braille output, etc.) and am very happy I did. My knowledge of tactile sign allowed me to continue my educational and social persuits after I lost the speech discrimination I had in my right ear (my left ear has had no discrimination for the past 11 years). The director was right. Learning tactile sign was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm thankful for the people who encouraged me. 
