Wednesday was a good day for one hard-of-hearing senior in Prince George.
Ed Stefan, 90, also known as Cowboy, has spent three long months in complete silence.
On Wednesday, the silence was broken when he visited the Canadian Hearing Care centre at Parkwood Place to receive his completely subsidized premium hearing aids with moulds.
"With these new hearing aids I have that driving power to make it to 100 years old - all I have to do is get my memory fixed and I am good to go," said Stefan, a retired logger.
In the recent past when Cowboy would come into the Fire Pit Cultural Drop In Centre for an afternoon meal, activities coordinator and support worker Dawn Agno would have to write notes to communicate with him.
He wrote a note to tell her he was not doing very well, feeling completely isolated and vulnerable even in his own home where people kept breaking in because they knew he couldn't hear them enter.
"I never want to be there again," said Stefan. "I was totally deaf."
Things are much better now thanks to the support he received from Fire Pit staff.
"This is my daughter," said Stefan, affectionately referring to Agno. "She's helped me so much it's unbelievable and I'm very happy about what she did for me."
Agno said it was a pleasure to help Stefan who she saw struggling so hard to communicate.
Agno reached out to the hearing centre to see what could be done for Stefan.
"Cowboy has been a patient of ours for a long time and we just joined a program called Campaign For Better Hearing so for every hearing test we do here in the clinic we donate $4 towards the program where we can start providing hearing aids for people who can't necessarily afford them," said Keara Farrell, a registered hearing instrument practitioner at the Canadian Hearing Care centre.
"So Dawn reached out to me because we hadn't seen Cowboy for a long time."
Agno asked if the Canadian Hearing Care centre could help get Stefan the hearing aids he needed.
Farrell did the research to find out if Stefan was eligible for the better hearing campaign.
"He fit all the criteria and he's the first candidate in northern B.C. to be accepted into the program," said Farrell. "We're so excited for him. It's a really great program here in B.C. because there's no subsidies for seniors to get the hearing aids they need."
When Agno reached out, Farrell said she was really touched.
"The Fire Pit has been so good to Cowboy, helping him in his time of need," said Farrell.
"We need more programs like the Fire Pit in this community. The more people in this community who can help find the resources people need the better. Dawn is such a champion - she actually came in with Cowboy for his first appointment."
Agno also attended Wednesday when Stefan received his hearing aids.
"It was so great to see him with his new hearing aids," said Agno. "He can hear again and that will really help him. It sure will make life easier for him now that he can communicate properly."
The Canadian Hearing Care centre provides free hearing testing for anyone who wants to be tested.
"Hearing health is just as important as any other aspect of your health and it's just as important as getting your eye sight checked or going to the dentist," said Farrell. "The longer you leave hearing loss the more difficulties there will be in the long run so it's best to get it checked."
