A life reconnected: Jo’s story
For years, Jo didn’t realise how much she was missing. In crowded rooms, conversations blurred into background noise. She smiled and nodded, unaware that her hearing loss was slowly isolating her from the world around her.
After finally getting her hearing tested, Jo discovered she needed hearing aids. The impact was immediate. “It changed my life overnight,” she says. “I didn’t realise how much energy I was using just trying to listen.”
Suddenly, she could hear clearly, focus better, and reconnect with confidence. The change boosted both her wellbeing and her business, allowing her to engage more fully with clients and friends. “I had more energy, more clarity, and a lot more joy,” she says.
Finding hope in research
Jo first heard about the Bionics Institute through friends and was inspired to learn how their research extended beyond hearing to conditions that had deeply affected her own life.
For twenty years, Jo has managed chronic gut conditions including diverticular disease and IBS. A daily balancing act of food choices, medications, and symptom control. “You’re always thinking, can I eat this? What’s in it? It takes so much mental energy,” she says.
Not only that, it has had a mental toll on her.
“I was really limited and being able to go out and socialise or even get to work some days. That that led to me isolating at times and that’s not really mentally healthy at all”
That’s why the Institute’s research into a vagus nerve device for gut disorders caught her attention. Bionics Institute researchers may have found a way to stimulate the vagus nerve safely using this bionic device. This activates natural processes in the body that lead to the reduction in the activity of inflammatory cells in the gut.
“Even for someone like me who manages things well, something like that would be life changing,”
Connected to a cause
For Jo, the Bionics Institute represents innovation that truly changes lives. From hearing and vision research to and gut health, its work touches every part of her story.
“They’re basically my eyes, my ears, my gut, and my loved one’s epilepsy,” she says. “It’s a cause really close to my heart.”
Jo now encourages others to embrace the power of bionic technology. “There used to be a stigma around hearing aids,” she reflects. “Now I see them as something to be proud of. They gave me my confidence, my energy, and my connection to the world back.”
To Jo, the Bionics Institute’s research is about more than medical advancement. It’s about giving people their lives back.
Find out about the amazing research that Jo is so passionate about: https://www.bionicsinstitute.org/our-research/
