British toddler’s adorable reaction as she hears for first time after world-first gene therapy

An 18-month-old British girl has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person in the world to take part in a groundbreaking new gene therapy trial.

Opal Sandy, from Oxfordshire, can now hear her family and listen to her mother and father read her stories, after undergoing the pioneering treatment at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, which is part of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Manohar Bance, an ear surgeon at the trust and chief investigator for the trial, said the results are “better than I hoped or expected” and may cure patients with this type of deafness.