Thirty-six years ago Sue Walters was a social 22 year old, who loved listening to music and hanging out with friends in Sydney.

Then in April 1984, a bout of meningicocal meningitis left Sue completely deaf in both ears.

“I was thrown suddenly into a different world in which I couldn’t understand any conversation or hear any music or anything around me at all,” said Sue, 58, from Oately in NSW.