Coleshill Man Jack is World's Oldest Cochlear Implant Recipient

An article written by Pete Millington in October 2007

The world’s oldest cochlear implant recipient, Jack Walley was born in Nether Whitacre near Coleshill, North Birmingham, on 17 February 1908, in the same room where he still sleeps today.

As well as running a busy 200 acre farm, Jack was also a member of the National Farmers’ Union, parish councillor, part-time special police inspector, and church warden for 44 years, before he lost his hearing in the 1970s.

Jack struggled on with the help of his wife Mabel. But after she died in 1975 he found himself more and more isolated by his deafness. Feeling too old to learn sign language, he carried a pad of paper with him everywhere in order to communicate with people, which made social situations difficult.

Then, in December 1991, at the age of 83, Jack had an operation at the University Hospital Birmingham, to fit a cochlear implant, a small electronic device that bypasses the inner ear and transmits sound waves directly to the auditory nerve. Jack received a Cochlear Nucleus CI22M implant, which has turned his life around.

At the time, there was some debate over whether a man in his eighties would really benefit from the expensive technology, which was still in its infancy - Jack was only the13th person to receive a cochlear implant at the hospital.

However, Jack’s daughter Pat says: “The cochlear implant changed his life completely. Dad has always been keen on music and electronics, mending televisions and radios was his hobby. Once he found out about cochlear implants, there was no stopping him from having one. When he first got it, he kept taking the processor to bits to see how it worked!”

"Having the implant has allowed Jack to live a more normal life in the family farmhouse with my sister Gillian.”

Jack’s surgeon David Proops, a Consultant Otolaryngologist at University Hospital Birmingham, feels that there is a serious message behind Jack’s success. He says: “Jack’s story just goes to show that you’re never too old for a cochlear implant. There is a whole cohort of severely deaf individuals in the 70+ age bracket whose quality of life could be greatly improved but who are not putting themselves forward, or not being put forward, for cochlear implants. As life expectancy is increasing by two years every decade, a baby girl born now could expect to live to 104. We seriously need to reconsider the way that older generations are viewed.”

Now 99, Jack is physically very well. His implant is working just as well as when it was put in and he doesn’t need any regular medication or walking aids – Pat jokes that he is healthier than she and her sister are!