Humaira’s dedicated Dad – when she was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at one year

It was when their eldest Humaira was diagnosed aged one as profoundly deaf that he stepped up and became more involved with her care. “We were shocked at the diagnosis,” says Miladur.

“Nobody in our family history was deaf. It took us a while to accept it.

“Then the choice was cochlear implants or sign language. We wanted to hear both sides of the story – it’s good to know the view of the Deaf community. But she comes from a hearing family, so we finally decided we wanted to maximise her hearing and work on developing her speech.”

However the couple were refused funding for a second implant for their daughter. “It was a blow,” recalls Miladur. “But as a parent I was going to challenge this decision, at least then I’d know we’d done the best we can.”

So he appealed, getting letters of support, including one from the National Deaf Children’s Society. Within a week the decision was overturned and the second implant went ahead successfully...