A woman born with no ears has heard the sound of her voice for the first time – after having them rebuilt and fitted with a hi-tech hearing aid.

Sally Evans, of Gosport, Hampshire, was born with microtia, a congenital deformity which resulted in her right ear being a flap of skin and the left sealing over completely.

But the 35-year-old has undergone pioneering work to have a special hearing aid fitted.

The Bone Anchored Hearing Aid works by detecting sound and sending vibrations down a screw embedded in the bone – straight to the hearing nerve, bypassing the ear canal.

When the device was switched on, the A&E nurse heard herself speak for the first time.

In a second procedure, parts of her own rib cartilage were removed and reshaped to sculpt new prosthetic ears.

The work came about after Dr Dawn Harper from Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies visited the mother-of-two's workplace at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Colleagues spoke to Dr Dawn and asked whether anything to be done. 

She agreed to meet Mrs Evans and her story is set to feature on the show tonight.

Describing the moment she first heard the sound of her own voice, Mrs Evans said: ‘That day in the sound proofed room will stay with me forever.  

‘In that moment my world got so much bigger, it was like being a child again and hearing things for the first time. 

'I was so emotional and cried with happiness - my first words were “is that me, is that my voice I can hear - do I sound like that?

‘I could hear the carpet on the floor when my feet moved across it - my husband had to tell me what it was because I had never heard it before.  

'I could hear sounds from all directions and I hadn’t realised how loud the world is. 

‘Every day there is always something new I hear like my cat purring or the sound of the sea. It is all magical to me.’
After the hearing aid was fitted, Mrs Evans saw Greg O’Toole, a Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon who performed surgery at the Royal Free Hospital in London, to rebuild her ears. 

Half of her head was shaved to access her scalp and she later decided to shave her hair completely and wear a wig until she had made a full recovery.

It marked a turning point for the mother-of-two, who describes on the show how she grew up thinking that nothing could be done about the appearance of her ears and how she was conscious of people staring at her.

She wore her hair down to cover her missing ears and had to travel 20 miles in a taxi to a school with a unit for children with hearing problems.

‘Growing up was very difficult for me, I always was aware that people looked at me differently,' she said. 

'This journey is the beginning of a dream I never thought possible, originating from a chance meeting. 

'I never ever thought one day I could have ears of my own that were real – my family, husband and my girls have been my rock.   

'Without them this journey would have been incredibly tough but with their love and support my dreams are becoming reality. 

'I came into this world with no ears and whatever else happens I’ll be going out with two.