Olympic gold medallist has opened up about her 'silent struggle' of hearing loss, as she works to break the stigma around it.
The former javelin thrower, who appeared in every Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996 and won the gold medal in the javelin throw at the 1984 Olympics, made history as the first Black British woman to win an Olympic gold medal .
Tessa has now opened up about suffering from hearing loss, during an appearance on Good Morning Britain. The sportswoman told hosts Ranvir Singh and Adil Ray that she was close to giving up with hearing aids at one point, and would pretend to understand people by attempting to lip-read, but this was impacting her confidence. The 70-year-old star spoke about surviving without a hearing aid at first, saying that she felt “embarrassed” at times, and would see people wearing “big ear pieces” and tell herself: “That won’t be me.” When Ranvir asked if there was an “internal stigma” around hearing aids that Tessa herself faced, she replied: “You feel a little bit embarrassed in certain situations.” She’s now backing a campaign to show the importance of hearing aids and break the stigma around it, after taking years to build up to wearing one herself. “In 2016, when I started doing a lot more speaking and things on stage and working with schools, and going to do after-dinner speeches and stuff, I was missing words,” Tessa explained. She then highlighted the problems with aftercare that lots of people struggle with when wearing hearing aids. Tessa continued: “When I first had it fitted, because of all the noise and discomfort and things like that… aftercare is so important, it really is.” She added that she had to “get used” to having her hearing aid in her ear, urging other people to remember that it would take four to five weeks to adjust after having a hearing aid fitted.She added: “My life is so much better now, because my confidence is better.” Tessa previously shared a message to anyone living with hearing loss, telling The Mirror that people should persevere and not "withdraw" from hearing aids at first. She said: “When I was first fitted with hearing aids I was excited. I thought I’d finally found a solution to my hearing nightmare. But they were uncomfortable and the sound was distorted. I assumed getting a hearing aid would be like getting glasses in that you’d feel the benefits straight away.” She added: “Eventually, I considered giving them up completely. But as an Olympian, I never quit so I decided to try something else. They’ve been life-changing. They’re perfectly personalised for me and my hearing is so much better. "I feel happy, confident and completely able to cope with my busy working life again. No more missing conversations or pretending to understand.”
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