Kaumātua Stan Pardoe a strong advocate for hearing tests

Kaumātua Stan Pardoe standing on the veranda of Ohako Marae at Manutūkē. He lost his hearing in his 60s, and now at 82 has enjoyed the benefits of getting cochlear implants in 2017. Picture by Phil Yeo

This year the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme (SCIP) commemorates 20 years of providing hearing to recipients here and Tairāwhiti kaumātua Stan Pardoe shares his story to help celebrate.

Stan is an orator and the guardian of his people’s history and stories.

He became deaf in his 60s but coped in his iwi’s Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations and as a trustee on farming and seafood boards by learning to lip read English and te reo Māori.

Stan relied on notes from his fellow committee members, but admits it was a struggle.

Thankfully, his deafness didn’t affect his ability to speak, to communicate, or to be a storyteller as that is the heart of his personality.

“I’ve always been an extrovert and things never get me down. My two hearing aids had limitations and the cochlear implant was a quantum leap in my hearing,” Stan said.

The operation in 2017 changed Stan’s life, and his wife Molly laughs, saying it changed hers too.

The key benefit for the couple has been ditching the frustration that was so dominant in their lives, plus that of their whānau and friends. They have four children, twelve mokopuna and two great-grandchildren.

For Stan, it was the frustration of not being able to follow a conversation, and particularly not being able to hear his mokopuna/grandchildren talking.

Stan’s first job was culling deer in the Kaingaroa Forest. He was the spotter, and the shooter steadied his rifle on Stan’s shoulder to fire. Earmuffs were non-existent.

Next, Stan started as a shearer and ran his own shearing gang for 25 years. The high whine of the machinery was part of his daily life for eight months of every year.

In the other months, Stan took on scrubcutting contracts for his team. The chainsaws had no mufflers and earmuffs were unknown.

Statistically, Māori disproportionately suffer more from hearing loss than other New Zealanders and experience inequities of access to hearing services.

Stan and Molly say older Māori men are whakamā/too embarrassed to admit their hearing is failing, or to ask for help, and they’re certainly not proactive about getting a hearing test.

The couple lament that this leads to self-imposed isolation and loneliness for many older Māori.

Stan is an advocate for hearing tests, let alone cochlear implants, and urges people to persist with their investigations and not be put off at the first hurdle if a diagnosis doesn’t go the way you thought.

Stan’s story is included in the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme’s commemorative book Hear our stories – Celebrating 20 years.

The book can be found on the SCIP website: https://scip.co.nz/hear-our-stories/