A TWO-YEAR-OLD Hampshire girl who was born profoundly deaf has heard her mum say 'I love you' for the first time.

Little Eleanor Fitter took it all in her stride as her cochlear implant was turned on for the first time yesterday and she heard her first sounds. It was an especially wonderful moment for the toddler's parents, Tracy, 33, and Mark, 34. They had been devastated when they were told Eleanor's operation, which had been planned for August, could not be funded by the local Mid Hampshire Primary Care Trust and she would have to wait until April for a re-assessment.

But after an appeal highlighting the family's plight, an anonymous benefactor came forward to donate the full £30,000 cost of the operation, and the procedure was carried out at Southampton General Hospital last month.

Eleanor, from Corunna Main in Andover, was diagnosed with impaired hearing at the age of one. On a recognised scale in which one is pin sharp and 100 is stone deaf, she has a hearing level of 85 to 95.

But the implant has made a huge difference. By Christmas it is hoped Eleanor will be able to recognise noises such as a doorbell or a dog barking, and she should be able to say her own name by early next year.

Mrs Fitter said she and her husband were over the moon at Eleanor's response to hearing her first sounds.

She said: "It was fantastic knowing that she can hear something. She can't hear everything yet, because they've got it on quite a low level so it does not scare her. When we come back next time they're going to turn it up a bit.

"It's going to get even more exciting as the week goes on, but she's taking it all in her stride. I was a bit worried about how she would react, but she's been fantastic, a little superstar."

Scientists at the University of Southamp-ton's Cochlear Implant Centre said the first tests went extremely well.

Audiological scientist Stacey Cooper said: "It was pretty much the best that we could hope for. We presented sounds at what would be considered quite a soft level and she turned straight away. It went really well for the first day and she wasn't bothered. She was quite laid back and happy."

Eleanor will return several times over the next few weeks for further tests and will also receive speech and language therapy at home.

HOW THE COCHLEAR IMPLANT WORKS:

A. Sounds and speech are detected by the microphone.

B. The information from the microphone is sent to the speech processor.

C. The speech processor analyses the information and converts it into an electrical code.

D. The coded signal travels via a cable to the transmitting coil in the headset. Radio waves from the transmitter coil carry the coded signal through the skin to the implant inside.

E. The implant package decodes the signal. The signal contains information that determines how much electrical current will be sent to the different electrodes.

F. The appropriate amount of electrical current passes down the appropriate lead wires to the chosen electrodes.

G. The position of the stimulating electrodes within the cochlea will determine the frequency or pitch of the sounds. The amount of electrical current will determine the loudness of the sounds.

H. Once the nerve endings in the cochlea are stimulated, the message is sent up to the brain along the hearing nerve. The brain can then try to interpret the stimulation as a meaningful sound.