A Morriston Hospital nurse who lost her hearing after catching measles as a child is urging parents to vaccinate their children against the infection.
Ursula Arnold contracted measles when aged two, but has spent thirty years working as a nurse, and is currently a clinical nurse educator and emergency nurse practitioner at the hospital.
She said: "When I had measles I was quite ill, but not so bad I had to go into hospital.
"The main problem came afterwards when it became clear I had hearing problems as a direct result of having measles.
"Not being able to hear properly is a disadvantage in many ways.
"When I was in school I had to sit at the front of the class and concentrate really hard to hear the teacher. But when the teacher turned their back to write on the board and carried on talking I couldn't hear what was being said and missed out on important information."
"I was picked on for being different. I would be called "teacher's pet" because I had to sit at the front. Children would deliberately whisper so I couldn't hear what they were saying or take part. It could be quite lonely."
It was not until Ursula was training to be nurse that she received some support and her first hearing-aid.
"I was looking after a group of patients and one of them complained to the Sister that I was ignoring her.
"I said the patient hadn't called me. Of course she had been calling I just couldn't hear her. It was only then that I was asked if there was something wrong with my hearing and I said yes there is.
"I was immediately referred to HR and Occupational Health for tests and was given a hearing-aid.
"This was back in 1986 / 87 when the old fashioned analogue hearing-aids were all you could get. They magnified every sound and the background noise overwhelmed all the other sounds so I still couldn't hear patients clearly. Communications is everything in nursing and saying 'sorry', 'what did you say' all the time just makes you look stupid.
"My hearing continued to get progressively worse, but now I have two digital hearing aids. They are amazing; I can now hear things I've never heard before – especially low level sounds."
To avoid her experience, she urged parents to vaccinate their children.
She said: "Measles isn't nothing. I'm deaf because of measles and some people have died because of it.
"Let your children have the MMR. I can see why parents might be concerned but the evidence says the MMR is safe.
"I had my son vaccinated and he is now in his early 20's with no ill effects. I don't know any colleague who hasn't had their children vaccinated with the MMR. I can assure parents if there was a problem we would be the first to say no. We are up to date on the latest information and there is no way we would risk our children.
"Measles isn't nothing. I'm deaf because of measles and some people have died because of it. Please get your children vaccinated so they don't go through what I and others have gone through."
Ursula Arnold contracted measles when aged two, but has spent thirty years working as a nurse, and is currently a clinical nurse educator and emergency nurse practitioner at the hospital.
She said: "When I had measles I was quite ill, but not so bad I had to go into hospital.
"The main problem came afterwards when it became clear I had hearing problems as a direct result of having measles.
"Not being able to hear properly is a disadvantage in many ways.
"When I was in school I had to sit at the front of the class and concentrate really hard to hear the teacher. But when the teacher turned their back to write on the board and carried on talking I couldn't hear what was being said and missed out on important information."
"I was picked on for being different. I would be called "teacher's pet" because I had to sit at the front. Children would deliberately whisper so I couldn't hear what they were saying or take part. It could be quite lonely."
It was not until Ursula was training to be nurse that she received some support and her first hearing-aid.
"I was looking after a group of patients and one of them complained to the Sister that I was ignoring her.
"I said the patient hadn't called me. Of course she had been calling I just couldn't hear her. It was only then that I was asked if there was something wrong with my hearing and I said yes there is.
"I was immediately referred to HR and Occupational Health for tests and was given a hearing-aid.
"This was back in 1986 / 87 when the old fashioned analogue hearing-aids were all you could get. They magnified every sound and the background noise overwhelmed all the other sounds so I still couldn't hear patients clearly. Communications is everything in nursing and saying 'sorry', 'what did you say' all the time just makes you look stupid.
"My hearing continued to get progressively worse, but now I have two digital hearing aids. They are amazing; I can now hear things I've never heard before – especially low level sounds."
To avoid her experience, she urged parents to vaccinate their children.
She said: "Measles isn't nothing. I'm deaf because of measles and some people have died because of it.
"Let your children have the MMR. I can see why parents might be concerned but the evidence says the MMR is safe.
"I had my son vaccinated and he is now in his early 20's with no ill effects. I don't know any colleague who hasn't had their children vaccinated with the MMR. I can assure parents if there was a problem we would be the first to say no. We are up to date on the latest information and there is no way we would risk our children.
"Measles isn't nothing. I'm deaf because of measles and some people have died because of it. Please get your children vaccinated so they don't go through what I and others have gone through."