Profile | Ed Sheeran asked to see him: Vancouver busker Daniel Lew on hearing loss and musical dream
- Lew, who suffered partial hearing loss as a student, has followed his dream of becoming a musician, and busks around Vancouver, Canada
Losing hearing in one ear has not stopped Daniel Lew realising his personal goals as a singer-songwriter. If anything, the condition made him cherish music even more.
In 2013, the final-year kinesiology student from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was diagnosed with idiopathic sensorineural loss (sudden hearing loss) that may have been caused by inflammation in his inner ear.
“It was shocking, especially because I was studying health and trying to become a healthcare practitioner,” Lew says. “I thought I was taking care of myself; I was exercising, I was doing the nutrition, I was doing these things I’ve been taught to do.
“But then I had this health crisis that came out of nowhere, so it was shocking to my whole perception of life, because I thought I was doing what you do to prevent getting ill.”
The hearing in his left ear did not return, and wearing a hearing aid did not help. About 50 per cent of people diagnosed with the condition do not recover their hearing.
