I was diagnosed with presbycusis (the premature loss of hair cells) at 50, and I was told the primary cause was genetic. Indeed, a look at my family tree confirms the diagnosis.

My grandfather on my mother’s side, Bernard Carney, began to notice he was losing his hearing in his 50’s. My mother too began losing hers at the same age. The rate and pattern of my hearing loss is the same as hers, and I am certain it’s the same as her father, my Grandad.

In the early 1960’s he got a hearing aid. You can see it the picture. It was a fairly crude device by today’s standards. In his shirt pocket he is wearing a microphone/amplifier about the size of a cigarette pack. You can see the white cord that runs to the small speaker in his ear. He was a thrifty man and he would sew pockets into his shirts himself.

He used to blame his deafness on his time in Malta during WWI when he would dive off the cliffs during his days off. But my mother has never been to Malta let alone done any cliff diving. Neither have I.  Nor has one of my cousins who came up with the term, “The Carney Curse”.