A DEAF child can hear for the first time thanks to experimental NHS gene therapy.
18-month-old Opal Sandy was born with damaged nerves between her inner ear and brain.
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But last September she became the first UK patient – and the youngest in the world – to be injected with a gene to potentially repair the defect.
Incredibly, she began responding to sounds within three weeks and, six months later, has functional hearing in her treated right ear.
Overjoyed mum Jo, 33, said: “When Opal heard us clap for the first time it was mind-blowing.”
Opal, one of about 120 babies a year diagnosed with auditory neuropathy, received an injection of a protein that reconnects hair cells to the auditory nerve.
On the left side is an electronic cochlear implant.
The success of the initial test also increases her chances of developing normal speech, and she can now say “bye” and “daddy”.
Professor Manohar Bance, head of testing at Cambridge University Hospitals, said: “These results are spectacular and better than I expected.”
Dad James, from Eynsham, Oxfordshire, said: “We are so proud to have contributed to such important discoveries, which we hope will help other children and families.”
The trial will now recruit more patients to test higher doses and in both ears.
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