Former Australian cricketer Brett Lee will spearhead ‘Sounds of Cricket’ campaign to raise awareness about the significant medical, social and economic impacts hearing loss can have on individuals and their families. The campaign, started by Cochlear, commencing later this year, asks people to ‘imagine if you could only imagine the sounds of cricket.’ The cricketer has also become Cochlear’s first global hearing ambassador. Over 360 million worldwide suffer from a disabling hearing loss. Many, however, are not aware of the effects it can have on them or the kind of treatments available.
Speaking in London at Lords, prior to the start of The Ashes, Brett said, “Hearing loss is a huge global public health issue. I can’t imagine cricket without sound – on the field not hearing the appeals and the crowd, off the field not hearing team mates, or at home not hearing family. I can’t imagine it. A cochlear implant can change all of that. I’ve seen it. The implant takes a person from silence to sound. It is a wonderful, life changing moment. And through the language of cricket, a game with three billion fans across the world, we can expose more people to implantable hearing technologies. We can help more people go from silence to sound.”
Brett said his association with Cochlear began when he was filming the soon to be released movie unIndian. “When we were filming at Cochlear’s headquarters in Sydney I got to know some of their recipients and even saw some of them ‘switched on’ for the first time, when they suddenly hear sound! I saw their sheer joy at being able to hear life. It really affected me. I also got to appreciate all of the opportunities in life that sound brings,” he said.
