Joy as 18-month-old Opal is able to hear (and dance with her sister) for the first time after being world's first patient to receive pioneering therapy that cures her form of deafness in ONE treatment

A British girl has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person in the world to take part in a groundbreaking gene therapy trial. Opal Sandy, who was born completely deaf because of a rare genetic condition, reads with her mother Jo at their home in Eynsham, Oxfordshire Opal Sandy, aged 18 months, was born completely deaf due to the condition auditory neuropathy Opal at home in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, with her mother Jo, father James and sister Nora He said: 'We have results from which are very spectacular — so close to normal hearing restoration. Opal had one fitted to her left ear at the same time as she underwent gene therapy in her right ear, to ensure she got hearing as soon as possible Her parents Jo and James, both 33, noticed improvements to her hearing in four weeks when Opal turned her head to loud clapping Opal now loves slamming her cutlery on the table to make a noise and enjoys playing with toy drums, a piano and wooden blocks 'Now, we don't know that she can understand speech in the same way because she's too young, but certainly she can respond to soft sounds.' The Sandy family, from Oxfordshire, have an older daughter Nora, aged five, who has the same genetic form of auditory neuropathy as Opal and wears cochlear implants Mrs Sandy said: 'Nora had her cochlear implants on both sides fitted at 15 months old and following that comes quite an intense rehabilitation process of speech and language therapy. Some 24 weeks after surgery, in February this year, tests in Cambridge showed Opal, pictured with her sister Nora, could also hear soft sounds such as a whisper Now, even without the implant in her left ear, Opal can hear perfectly well thanks to the gene therapy The couple first heard about the CHORD gene therapy trial from the ear, nose and throat surgeon at their local John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.