'Hearing loss left me isolated from my wife - then AI changed everything'

'Hearing loss left me isolated from my wife - then AI changed everything' Army veteran Lee Jackson struggled to deal with the gradual loss of his hearing - but an AI innovation has finally helped the veteran end his frustrating isolation An army veteran who admitted feeling isolated as he couldn't hear everyday conversations claims he now feels 'connected to everything' thanks to his AI hearing aids. Lee Jackson, who served for six years as an infantry soldier in the British Army, started experiencing hearing loss gradually. The 39-year-old believes some of his work in the military may have been a contributing factor to his significant hearing loss as damage to hearing canals can build over time, with consequences only noticeable years later. For Lee, that meant the early signs were easy to dismiss. He adapted without realising it - turning up the television volume, asking people to repeat themselves and relying on context or lip-reading to fill in the words he couldn't hear clearly. Living with hearing loss proved extremely isolating to Lee as he felt he couldn't be part of everyday conversations. But since being fitted with Widex Allure AI RIC hearing aids, Lee said he noticed a significant improvement in the clarity and natural quality of sound. Lee, from Surrey, said: "Conversations became more difficult to follow, particularly when more than one person was speaking or there was background noise. I had to concentrate intensely, watching faces and try to piece together sentences from the bits of sound I could hear, it was mentally exhausting. "Hearing loss can be incredibly isolating. You're surrounded by people and you know conversations are happening, but you can't always follow them. I would go out to dinner with my wife Kelly and would struggle to hear what her day was like. Eventually you can find yourself sitting back because you don't want to keep asking people to repeat themselves." Fed up at being unable to fully participate in conversations, Lee visited an audiologist and was fitted with hearing aids. Rather than making everything feel louder, Lee said the AI hearing aids provide a balanced listening experience, with voices sounding clearer without becoming harsh or artificial. Lee said: "You adjust without even knowing you're doing it. It's only when you start hearing these sounds again that you realise how much of life you'd been missing. The sound feels natural. It doesn't feel as though somebody has simply turned the whole world up. "I can hear what I need to and still feel connected to everything happening around me. I feel more confident and more involved. I'm not on the edge of the conversation anymore, I'm part of it. That's made a huge difference to my life." Lee's experience highlights why people shouldn't dismiss changes in their hearing as an unavoidable consequence of getting older. He said: "Hearing loss can make your world smaller without you noticing it happening. "My advice would be not to ignore it and not to feel embarrassed about asking for help. The right hearing support can reconnect you with parts of life and people you may not have realised you were losing. For more information, visit https://www.widex.com/en-gb/local/en-gb/widex-success-stories/