Grant Hubber

Six years ago Grant Hubber finally had enough of tinnitus, so on the advice that, “There are treatments for it; go see Audiology South as they’re pretty good,” he booked into the clinic. “The tests said I was deaf! I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t want aids, or for people to know. I know what it's like not wanting to look like a twit because you can't hear.”

Grant runs a farm in Oporo and spends his 'spare’ time as chairman of Borland Lodge Adventure & Education Trust.

“I lost quite a bit of hearing working on the farm: tractors and machinery, hunting and shooting, and I probably inherited hearing issues. We weren’t like today’s farmers who wear ear muffs. Out we’d go in open-top tractors wearing only parkas.

“It takes time to get used to hearing aids, and if I've been on the farm without them, it’s a couple of days to readjust. My deafness is like fingers jammed in my ears, so I notice what I’ve been missing when I put them in.” 

“Hearing technology has changed so much. Bluetooth connects me direct to my phone and I can be sitting at home watching a video on the iPad and no one knows a thing. Why anybody wouldn’t want to use this technology doesn’t make sense to me.