HELLO Mummy! Those were the first words Hampshire mother Katie Cheeseman heard her two-year-old son Toby utter.

The 36-year-old started going deaf seven years ago and has never before heard her young son speak - but now that has all changed thanks to a cochlear implant.

"I could hear him say hello and then he said 'My Mummy's got a new hearing aid'.

"The sound is very metallic. Everyone sounds like Daleks, but it was so wonderful to hear him."

Katie's elder son, Elliott, 10, has been practising new words with his mum to see whether she can recognise them without reading his lips.

"With hard work and lots of practice I will be able to hear so much more, I can see there will be so many benefits," she added.

"Elliott is learning the guitar and he is playing it for me so I can begin to recognise the sound."

Experts at the University of Southampton have used the latest technology to help the Southampton mother of two hear again for the first time in seven years.

Her greatest wish was to hear her children speak - and to listen to birdsong once again.

Katie's hearing began to deteriorate in 1997 and she had to rely on hearing aids and lip-reading. But now, thanks to her so-called "bionic ear", Katie may even eventually be able to use the telephone again.

"When I speak I sound like Metal Mickey," she said.

"It sounds really strange. It's a very tinny noise. It's the same as when I first got hearing aids, very strange, but I am sure I will get used to it."

The Daily Echo highlighted Katie's story last month as she waited to "go live" with her new hearing device.

Audiological scientist, Sarah Flynn, said it might be a while before Katie, who works for Southampton social services as manager of the sensory services team, can distinguish sounds such as birdsong from other background noise.

"In the next few days Katie will be getting used to the implant and her brain will be working hard to distinguish the sounds.

"Since we started doing this in 1990 about 200 people have been fitted with implants and we have had a good success rate," she said.

At work Katie has relied upon e-mail and a trained stenographer who types the proceedings of meetings so she can follow the debate on a computer screen.

Each year about 30 people are fitted with a cochlear implant and plans have been unveiled for a new £5.7m centre at Southampton University to meet a growing demand for the procedure.

A mystery benefactor has boosted the appeal for funds to take the centre a step closer to reality. The Daily Echo can reveal an anonymous donor has given £600,000 to help the project become a reality by late 2005.

Steve Glasspool, who is co-ordinating fund- raising for the £1.4m appeal, said: "Our single biggest donation has been £600,000 from a long-standing friend of the university.

"He made the gift after seeing for himself, the cutting-edge research taking place into helping children and adults with severe or complete hearing loss and the excellent rehabilitation and care offered to patients.

"The clinical facilities at the Cochlear Implant Centre can no longer cope with the number of patients being treated. The existing cramped and inappropriate facilities need to be replaced to ensure a more 'patient friendly' environment - which is especially important for child patients. At the same time new laboratories will enable the continuing development and evaluation of advanced hearing aid and cochlear implant systems."

Audiological scientist Julie Eyles said the work was extremely rewarding.

"We are delighted to have been able to help so many people over the years. The youngest child to have an implant at the centre was 18 months old and the oldest adult was 78. It gives us great satisfaction to know that we have helped change people's lives."

During the past 40 years, the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at the University of Southampton has been at the forefront in establishing links between disability and engineering solutions, particularly those relating to hearing disorders. The ISVR has been awarded the highest possible rating of 5* for its research in the last Research Assessment Exercise acknowledging its work as having international significance.

The Cochlear Implant Centre is lead by Professor Mark Lutman under the directorship of Professor Phil Nelson, both of whom are eminent scientists and are supported by an exceptionally strong team with international links.

Professor Lutman said that all babies are now tested for possible hearing problems shortly after birth and so many more will be identified for treatment at an earlier age.

"We want a centre that will be more child and family friendly. Since we started doing the implants we have seen in excess of 200 people and we need to keep seeing those people," he said.

If you would like to make a donation towards the cost of the new centre contact Steve Glasspool on 023 8059 7157 or e-mail s.glasspool@soton.ac.uk