Howick and Pakuranga
A NAME YOU CAN TRUST! Thursday, September 21, 2017
Est. 1972
Put your clocks forward one hour at 2am this Sunday Vol 46, No 38
General 271 8000 ■ Classified 271 8055 ■ Delivery Enquiries 271 8014 ■ Website www.times.co.nz
Lightning blows up garden, fuseboxes
for hair that looks great and feels great
124096-V4
Daylight Saving starts this weekend!
By NICK KRAUSE
1/10 The Terraces, 24 Wellington St, Howick 535 9554 salon@terraceshair.co.nz www.terraceshair.co.nz
JH9902-V2
A Cockle Bay couple is counting its lucky stars after lightning struck its property, blasting the garden and blowing up two fuseboxes. Ashley and wife Lorna (they asked not to publish their surname) and their dog have had to move out of the Trelawn Place house following the lightning strike on Monday at around 4.50pm. Ashley said lightning struck the Norfolk pine on the property. The percussion from the strike was enough to blow out the neighbour’s windows. “It blew the water feature out of the garden, tracked into the house and blew the fuse in the street. It took out our fuseboxes in the garage and downstairs – a cover was (blown out) and embedded in the gib (of the wall opposite),” he said. A part of the bamboo fence, entwined with copper wire, was blown out too. “I was working in the office – it was like a blue flash... it was three to five seconds,” said Ashley. “The house filled with smoke – the smell of burning wires.” An electrician, power company Vector and an insurance company assessor were surveying the damage.
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127273-V5
Don’t miss Ag Day! P2
PHOTOS KAREN CORY TOUSSAINT
Giving Freddie a voice By THERESE HENKIN
B
right, wacky T-shirts will be on full display in the Stickland household next week in support of their little boy Freddie and Loud Shirt Day. When 8-month old Freddie was born, he was diagnosed with profound hearing loss and just three months ago he was fitted with cochlear implants. After being blindsided by the diagnosis, Freddie’s parents, Mark and Amanda, say watching him giggle as he heard sound for the first time was an incredible experience. “[Cochlear implants] are not a cure for deafness but they allow him access to sound, and because of them he will learn to talk just like his hearing peers, something that
never would have been possible 40 years ago,” says Amanda. While Freddie has a long road ahead of him with habilitation sessions to assist with achieving developmental skills, thanks to the Hearing House and the cochlear implants Freddie will live a “happy, normal, extraordinary life,” she says. They say the team at The Hearing House have quickly become like family, and they are blown away with the support and kindness they offer every family they work with. “When Freddie got switched on, which is what they call it when they turn on the implants, they had a switch on party for us. For them it’s another kid they have helped and they celebrate that,” says Mark. Cochlear implants in New Zealand are government funded but
Freddie Stickland and mum Amanda enjoy some play time. Photo Therese Henkin
The Hearing House relies heavily on donations to be able to offer deaf children and their families a range of
free audiology services and therapy. The couple wants everyone to take part in Loud Shirt Day by dressing up in their brightest shirt to support and celebrate giving deaf kids a voice. “Deaf kids can hear with support and this is a real success story where the government in years gone by have made decisions that have really set up a good infrastructure to support kids like Fred,” Mark says. “But the Hearing House still needs public donations to be able to offer families the level of support that they do.” ■ Loud Shirt Day is on Friday, September 29 and is the annual appeal for The Hearing House and the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme. You can register at www. loudshirtday.org.nz.
JAMI-LEE ROSS
Feel free to contact me anytime. A
PO Box 230109, Botany, Auckland 2163
P
09 271 3255
E
botanymp@parliament.govt.nz
W
www.jami-leeross.co.nz
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