Justin Winters spent most of his life hearing impaired, but now he’s hearing some sounds for the very first time.“Today I was driving and I hear the rustling of a potato chip bag. I’ve heard leaves falling. I’d never heard leaves falling before,” said Winters.He spent most of his life using hearing aids and lip reading to communicate. Today, with the help of a new generation of cochlear implant, he’s sharing the joy of better hearing with his wife Sara and their three children at home in Warrenton.“He notices sounds more than we do,” said Sara Winters. “We’ll be out somewhere and he’ll say, ‘Stop, what’s that sound?’ ”He hears music, when people call out to him from another room and the sounds his children make.As a hearing person, Winters found out, “The kids are a lot louder.”Winters was born prematurely in 1984. At 2 days old his lung collapsed. He was on a respirator and nearly died. Nine months later, his grandfather noticed he wasn’t hearing. Winters believes the treatment that saved his life caused his hearing loss.Winters attended preschool at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf, where he learned skills to help him succeed in a hearing world. He started attending public schools in first grade in the Pattonville School District.“I was functioning exceptionally well because of my lip-reading skills,” Winters said.It didn’t occur to him that he would ever hear at a normal level, and he wasn’t considering cochlear implants. A co-worker at Boeing with cochlear implants changed his mind. The two had a friendly rivalry; hearing aid vs. cochlear implant. The cochlear implant, which requires surgery, prevailed.Winters received the Cochlear Nucleus 7 implant shortly after it was released. The cochlear implant sound processor was created to work with an iPhone. Users can adjust the volume and sensitivity with an app.Winters’ implant was activated Dec. 21 by Dr. Jacques Herzog, M.D., at the Center for Hearing and Balance Disorders at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield.“These devices are game changers. Cochlear implants provide the benefit of sound people with severe to profound hearing loss would not have had otherwise — the sound of birds chirping, a child’s first words,” Herzog said. “While hearing aids amplify sounds around you, cochlear implants are designed to allow recipients to discriminate sounds, for a more accurate representation.”With hearing aids Winters said he was hearing one word for every three or four words. It’s much improved and getting better, he said. He’s in cochlear implant auditory training therapy. The therapy teaches implant recipients how to transition from hearing impaired to hearing.“It’s extremely gratifying for me, and for everybody involved in the process, to turn hearing back on for patients like Justin and see a complete transformation to their lifestyle,” Herzog said.Winters is hearing and paying attention to everything he hears.“I waited my whole life to hear deer walking in the woods,” Winters said. “I didn’t know they were that loud. Wow.”His enthusiasm for noise is something he’s sharing with his family.“It’s been neat for me, too, because of the things I’m rediscovering,” Sara said.For Winters, there are no “bad’ sounds. He’s grateful for every sound.“There’s not a sound I regret hearing. There never will be a sound I regret hearing,” Winters said.

Justin and Sara Winters take a photo the day of a cochlear implant surgery for Justin. He received implants during two separate surgeries.

Submitted photo