In 2003, Sharon Symonds lost the hearing in her left ear.

Fourteen years later, she lost the hearing in her right ear as well.

She was resigned to living the rest of her life that way until doctors In Bermuda connected her with Daniel Lee, a surgeon with Mass General Brigham’s Mass Eye and Ear.

The cochlear implants he gave her restored her hearing — something she is deeply grateful for. She’s now leading a push for greater understanding and awareness of the island’s deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

“For me it was awful when I lost my hearing. It was sudden and people didn't understand why it happened. Some people that I knew, suddenly they didn't treat me nice at all. Friends distanced themselves from me, I noticed people isolated themselves from me. It didn't put me in a good space,” she said.

“So I’m sharing this story for several reasons. One is to encourage more understanding and support for people with hearing loss.”

Another is to let people know that the technology exists. Cochlear implants have two parts — an external processor that picks up sound, and an internal implant that receives those signals and sends them to the hearing nerve. The devices are most often used in children, but Dr Lee’s testing showed that Ms Symonds was an ideal candidate as well.

It was not an option for her in 2003. Ms Symonds was flying into Bermuda when her left ear “popped” just as the plane prepared to land.

“I was feeling really unwell, nauseous and stuff but I just thought it was something minor. You hear people talking about how their ears pop on a plane so I just ignored it. But then it wasn't getting any better, so I went to my doctor, who referred me to an ENT and he did an MRI to make sure that it was nothing that was affecting my brain, to make sure I didn't have a brain tumour or anything like that.”

She was pleased that the results came back negative but she still could not hear.

“I thought maybe at some point [my hearing would] come back. It didn’t. But I more or less accepted it [thinking that it was] all part of the ageing process,” the 66-year-old said.

In May 2017, she spent long hours helping prepare a float for the Bermuda Day Parade, working with different glues and materials. “I was doing it every night and I started noticing I sounded really nasal,” she said.

On May 19, she felt a burning in her nose and her balance suddenly seemed off. She continued working but then “heard a pop”. Confused, she sat down.

“People came to me asking, ‘You OK?’ I couldn't hear them at all.”

She knew something was wrong but didn’t think she needed medical attention until the next morning, when she realised she was also seeing double.

At King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, doctors gave her a CT scan to rule out a stroke or any other serious neurological issue.

The test came back negative. A doctor told her she likely had a sinus infection and sent her home with a nasal spray.

Her son insisted she take it further.

“I looked up the ENT, Dr Vallis, and got an emergency appointment. He took me right away.”

The specialist noticed a problem with her eyes and referred Ms Symonds to Leonard Teye-Botchway, then the consulting ophthalmologist and medical director of the Bermuda International Eye Institute.

“I was seeing double. I was seeing two things instead of one. So they checked me out and they treated me. And I'm happy to say, the double vision did get better after a while, but I still couldn't hear anything,” she said.

Rachel Burns, at Bermuda Hearing Services, was another big help.

“They were all so patient. They were so kind, they were so understanding and they were so helpful. That was encouragement for me. They really did everything in their power to pacify me and let me know that they were there with me,” Ms Symonds said.

She was forced to read lips to understand and found it upsetting that people she thought were friends would laugh when she misinterpreted speech.

“Just imagine, you can't hear what they're saying,” she said. “These people no longer looked at me as the person that I am. They looked at me as a person with a disability. And that really hurt. That hurt a lot.”

Much as she tried to stay involved, she was often left on her own at social gatherings.

“It just wasn’t a good feeling at all,” she said.

Eventually she stopped trying. For about five months, she stayed at home. With only her son for company, dark thoughts began to creep in.

“I had to take this medication and I actually heard a voice that said, ‘You know you don't want to live like this. Take all the medication. Take it all at once. You might as well just end it.’

“I kid you not. I actually had the tablets on my tongue and then I heard another voice saying, ‘You don't want your son to come in and find you like that.’ And I just spat everything out,” Ms Symonds said.

“I'm so glad today that I did that.”

With no improvement in her hearing, Dr Vallis recommended a cochlear implant and referred her to Mass Eye and Ear for an assessment.

The surgery at the Massachusetts hospital was a success. Although Dr Lee warned her about possible side effects, everything went smoothly.

Her audiologist, Britta Swedenborg, was “awesome”.

“We did tests and she was patient. She told me there was no need to panic and that if I couldn’t hear right away, not to get upset about it, that sometimes it takes time,” said Ms Symonds.

Her son, who accompanied her on the trip, was surprised by how quickly she responded, even asking her to turn her back so they could test it again.

“Everybody was so amazed it had worked just like that. I felt great,” she said.

She was encouraged by tests showing her hearing had improved “from 0 to 40 per cent” and asked whether the operation could help her right ear as well — the one that had not worked since 2003.

Dr Swedenborg advised doing it “as soon as possible”.

“I got it done a year ago and I'm happy to tell you that I can now hear out of that ear for the first time in over 20 years. It does sound a bit different than my left ear, it sounds a bit robotic, but I can understand and I can feel that the two are supporting each other. I've also noticed that my balance is a bit better. It's just an awesome experience,” she said.

“I am so grateful that I had the opportunity. I feel so confident now. I've always said that I can be a voice for other people and this is something that helps me.”

Since returning, several people have stopped her on the street to ask about her implant. She tells them the same thing: it’s given her a new lease on life. She can hear conversations again, be included, and feel part of everything.

She believes it is an option many people don’t realise they have.

“At least go in and find out what’s causing your hearing loss,” said Ms Symonds, who knows several adults and children on the island who have also had the surgery.

She and a friend once hoped to start a support group for people with hearing loss. It did not come together but she still believes the island needs one and hopes the opportunity will come again.

Education is important to her as well.

“A lot of people think using a Q-tip is the best way to clean your ears, but it isn’t,” she said. “Once you lose your hearing, it’s not just your hearing that suffers. You lose your balance, your self-confidence — everything. It took this experience for me to realise how important your ears really are,” she said.