Richard

Right auricular prosthesis, clipped onto a gold bar

“When I was born, my head was sort of a bit stuck to my neck on the right-hand side. I was operated on as a small baby in Strasbourg to redress the situation, and then they took some skin to make a ridge vaguely resembling an ear. Then, from the age of 8 to 12, I underwent several operations at the Necker Hospital for Sick Children in Paris where I would stay for 3 to 4 weeks at a time.

In 1968, I was in hospital when Jean-Claude Killy won his 3 gold medals at the Olympic Games. We were in a 16-bed dormitory. I didn’t have any friends and I was tremendously bored. During the first operation, they removed what had been done in Strasbourg. In the second operation, they created an auditory canal, and grafted skin to form a ridge into which an arc was fitted. The upper section became necrotic and they had to stop everything.

As a child, I felt isolated and neglected. Nobody wanted to be my friend and I was too timid to make the first steps - I was lacking in self-confidence. So from 12 to nearly 40 years, I didn’t get anything done. I got married young. We carried out genetic tests, which were normal, and when they were born, my three sons didn’t suffer from the same problems as me.

In 1995, I was invited to Necker where they spoke to me about prostheses. We took an appointment with Anne-Marie Riedinger who explained to us what a prosthesis was and directed us to Dr Hémar for implants to be fitted. I felt confident, and the prosthesis has completely changed my life. What’s more, I was short-sighted and I needed to wear glasses, but they would not stay on without a second ear. Once I had the prosthesis, I could wear my glasses normally. Everything was so much better and much more pleasant. I also changed my hairstyle.

Some years later, I was operated on for short-sightedness and now, apart from being hearing-impaired on my right-hand side, I’m all good.”