How hearing aid firm eMoyo helped petrol attendant hear again

Apart from its load shedding woes, hearing aid firm eMoyo also began giving back to disadvantaged communities by setting up its own foundation.

Over the four years the foundation has been in existence, chief executive officer Dr Dirk Koekemoer said they had reached “tens of thousands of people” including schools in Thembisa in Ekurhuleni, old age homes and random encounters with people who appear to have hearing problems.

The foundation does this by offering free hearing testing and if needed, provides free hearing aids that cost over R10,000 apiece.

It was through a random encounter that an eMoyo employee discovered Pete working as a petrol attendant. Pete’s surname is being kept confidential to protect his privacy.

“Pete developed hearing loss as a child. He did go through the process to obtain hearing aids, but they broke,” said chief sales officer Jillian Scotland.

“When he tried to get back into the system, it was a battle every time and there was no one to fix or replace the hearing aid. Eventually, he just lost hope.

“Pete started to learn to lip read to make his life a little easier. He had been working at the petrol station for the past 14 or 15 years, but it was hard for him and his colleagues. His colleagues would need to tap him on his shoulder to attend to a customer at the petrol pump. He would also need a pen and paper to write down what it was the customer needed.”

Scotland said it was through a chance encounter Pete had with another eMoyo colleague Tevan Scotland he was discovered.

“One day in November 2019 he went to the petrol station to refuel his car and had Pete as his petrol attendant. Tevan asked Pete what was wrong with him and brought it to the attention of management.

“After testing Pete’s hearing with eMoyo’s KUDUwave, the company fitted him with a hearing aid in the right ear. Unfortunately a hearing aid could not be fitted to the left ear, as Pete has total hearing loss in that ear.

“Since having the hearing aid fitted, Pete is now able to understand what his clients want,” said Scotland. “He will never get his full hearing back, but he certainly has got the sound back in his right ear.”

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