A DEAF Skipton teenager has refused an operation to partially restore her hearing because she is ' frightened' of the surgery involved.

Rebecca Farquhar was born profoundly deaf and any residual hearing in her right ear was lost when she was hit by a car on Duckett Street, Skipton, in the summer of 1996.

Thankfully, the 13-year-old was already boarding at St John's School for the Deaf in Boston Spa, where she received the best care possible in coping with her further hearing loss.

She had been at the school from the age of eight, following years of support from the Parish Church School in Brougham Street, Skipton.

But when specialists at Bradford Royal Infirmary's Yorkshire Cochlea Implant Service offered her the chance of a £30,000 implant operation last year, she turned it down.

The implant would have converted sounds into electrical pulses which would have directly stimulated Rebecca's inner ear.

But despite pleas from her parents, Janet and Alex, of Cowper Street, Rebecca remains steadfast in her decision, and seems perfectly happy with her expertise in lip-reading and ever-developing oral communication.

And staff at St John' s, a school which doesn't use sign language, are right behind her whatever her decision, saying that any potential upheaval due to surgery could affect her studies.

Rebecca said: 'I don't like the idea of the implant at all because I'm frightened of operations. The people at Bradford Royal Infirmary said it wouldn't hurt but it doesn't make any difference to me.

'I know my mum and dad want me to have it but I'm all right the way I am. I know I can have the operation in the future but I don't think I will. I'm not going to change my mind but I would like a new digital hearing aid when they come out.'

Rebecca's dad, Alex, is mindful of his daughter's future, particularly because he works with a deaf woman at Skipton Building Society.

Janet Farquhar told the Herald: 'We cannot persuade her to have the implant and, believe me, we have tried our best. Quite a few of the children at St John's have had it, but with Rebecca it's the operation she's frightened of. Thankfully she can still have the operation in the future if she wants.'

Head teacher Tom Wrynne said: 'Rebecca has decided she doesn't want it and we have to respect that. She is a good hearing aid user and communicator and can manage with what she's got. The decision about whether to undergo the cochlea implant involves parents and teachers but the final decision rests with the young person.

'Within two years she's got her GCSE's and the implant can take 12 months to adjust to because it involves a very different way of listening. There is a chance that, if the operation went ahead, it could affect her studies.

'But this is the first time one of our pupils has turned down an implant and we have 17 youngsters here using them very successfully.'

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