East London father tells how 'miracle' deaf son with cerebral palsy defied the odds to walk and talk

Megan White6 May 2019

An east London father today told how his "miracle" deaf son with cerebral palsy defied the odds to walk and talk.

Kurran Doal, 15, was born two months premature and spent the first two years of his life in hospital.

He contracted a severe bowel infection, necroticising entercolitis, and was forced to undergo three life-saving operations.

Kurran’s parents were dealt another blow when they discovered their son, who has mild cerebral palsy and developmental delay, was profoundly deaf.

But the "remarkable" teen from Chigwell has since learnt to sit, swallow, walk and talk and is looking to apply for college next year.

Kurran speaking at an AVUK event
Auditory Verbal UK / Doal family

Cerebral palsy is a group of conditions which affect movement and co-ordination. It can lead to delays in reaching development milestones and other problems including with speech and vision.

Kurran's dad Avy Doal told the Standard: “We had to rebuild him – we had to teach him to sit, swallow and walk as well – but it has been an incredible journey.”

He added that Kurran's early time in hospital was "tough".

"He was born premature," he said. "Which was fine, but then he contracted a bowel infection. It should have been relatively simple but he just didn’t recover.

“He was taken to the Royal London Hospital and the doctor said it was one of the worst cases of the infection he’d ever seen, he said he’d be surprised if Kurran came back from it.

Kurran with (L-R) dad Avy, sister Demica and mum Kulvinder at the Houses of Parliament
Auditory Verbal UK / Doal family

“It was a miracle that he survived, but Kurran means fighter in Punjabi."

Mr Doal added: “After he’d pulled through from that, he was having a lot of speech and language therapy and we could tell something was wrong. We didn’t even comprehend that the strong drugs he was on could have caused hearing loss.

“He was given hearing aids but they weren’t helping, and eventually they found out he was profoundly deaf, as well as being unable to walk, talk or eat – he was fed through a nasal tube.

“We just had to carry on, we didn’t know else to do. I felt helpless for the first time in my life and I was probably at my lowest ebb.”

Kurran was fitted with cochlear implants aged four. Mr Doal said: “When they switched the implants on, it was so emotional, you could just see his eyes light up.

Kurran in hospital at just six months old
Doal family

“It was so funny, it was amazing – my wife cried her eyes out – and even thinking about it blows my mind.

“They then told us that we would have to actually teach him how to hear, and that’s how we found Auditory Verbal UK.

“Kurran had been picking up noises, but he couldn’t understand a conversation. Jacqueline Stokes, its founder, taught him how to speak – she was so confident in her approach, it was unbelievable.

“We took him for therapy in Oxford and within four or five sessions we could see the change in him.

“Jacqueline used role play to teach him and eventually he started talking, he went from strength to strength.”

Kurran aged eight
Doal family

Six months later, Kurran said “mummy” for the first time, and two years later “he was able to pick out words from books and had the basics of conversation”.

Despite having to leave AVUK when Kurran turned seven, the family continued to take the charity’s advice, swapping their TV at home for conversation at the dinner table.

Mr Doal said: “Kurran is now nearly 16 and although things tailed off a bit and plateaued, he’s got those conversation skills – sometimes we can’t get him to stop talking.

“He’s thinking about college now and there’s nothing he can’t explain, like feelings and his life goals, it’s remarkable.

“Talking to him is like talking to a ten-year-old is probably the best way of putting it.”

He said things “would have been so different” without AVUK, adding: “You can’t build on sand but they had it right and helped us get the basics without it crumbling.

“We would have got there eventually but they were a massive help.

“It’s important to remember his speech and language were just one small part of what went wrong.

“We had to rebuild him – we had to teach him to sit, swallow and walk as well – but it has been an incredible journey.”

Kurran has now been shortlisted in the Most Inspiring Young Person category at the Asian Voice awards.

Anita Grover, CEO at Auditory Verbal UK, said: “Kurran has demonstrated that his hearing loss and additional needs are no barrier to achieving success and inspiring others.

“He is a role model for young deaf people or those with additional needs and their families.”

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