Ben Cohen is "completely deaf in both ears."
The 37-year-old former rugby player has revealed he’s lost his hearing from both sides and relies entirely on lip-reading in order to have a conversation with people because he doesn’t like the sensation he gets when he wears aids.
He explained: "I’m completely deaf in both ears. I have to lip-read so I miss a lot unless I’m looking straight at the person. I don’t wear hearing aids very often because I can hear too much with the. I think, what the hell is that noise? And I’m jumping every second. It’s quite funny."
The sportsman was spurred on to get hearing aids by Sir Elton John after he put him in touch with someone in the US.
He added to OK! magazine: "Sir Elton John made me [starstruck] when I first met him. He ended up sorting out my hearing aids. He put me in touch with someone in America and told me to get some when I was next there."
And, although he can’t hear anything in the outside world, Ben has admitted he suffers with tinnitus – a ringing or buzzing in the ears – and is longing for the day he gets a bit of peace.
He said: "I’ve had it all my life, although it’s got worse. The tinnitus is the worst thing. I’d love t know what silence feels like, what it’s like to feel total peace. I can be in the middle of the countryside but I’ve always got a scream in my ear."
Ben Cohen is deaf in both ears
