By 2009, Bella has made her peace with her hearing loss.

She's found ways to cope, and ways to be happy. And she assumes this is the way life will always be.

Then a routine visit to her audiologist changes everything.

In 1997, Bella began to go deaf. Within a few months, she had lost half her hearing, and the rest was slipping away. She wasn't just missing punchlines, she was missing most of the conversation - and all of the jokes. For the next 12 years deafness shaped her life.

Sound draws on this experience, exploring the practical and emotional impact of losing your hearing, and what it teaches you about listening and silence, music and noise.

Concluded by Adjoa Andoh.

Abridged by Jo Coombs.

Producer: Hannah Marshall

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2017. Show less