It is considerable sadness that we have to report the death of Lawrie Cleary.
Lawrie Cleary played a major part in the history of cochlear implantation in the UK. He had lifelong hearing loss and was a patient of mine in Manchester. He was fascinated by the potential benefits of cochlear implantation but was dismayed to learn that there was no established centre in the UK and that there was no government funding for the procedure. He immediately decided to put things right. He travelled with me to Graham Clarke in Melbourne and was galvanised with enthusiasm and set about raising funds for an implant programme at Manchester Royal Infirmary. He established a charity, Help Ear and Allied Research (HEAR). Through Lawrie’s many business and social contacts, and a number of spectacular money-raising functions, the funds came in to allow the purchase of a number of cochlear devices.
Lawrence Cleary’s sponsored tandem sky dive which raised the funds for the UK’s first cochlear implant.
The first implant was performed in June 1988. Its success was widely publicised in the media and soon other British centres started raising funds for their own programmes. By 1995, sufficient data from the centres had accumulated to allow the MRC Institute of Hearing Research advise the Department of Health that cochlear implantation was good value for money, following which funding was announced for a number of adult programmes. HEAR widened its activities and financed a number of high-quality research programmes and academic conferences, as well as supporting many hearing loss charities in the North West of England. When HEAR was eventually wound up in 2015, it donated the residual funds to the new Manchester Head and Neck Centre and to the Centre for Hearing Implants.
Lawrie’s contribution to the management of deafness was recognised when he was invested as MBE by the late Queen. He was a man of immense energy and commitment, an optimistic lover of life and a delightful companion and friend.
Professor Richard Ramsden
