Russell Greene is a former footy player from the 1970s and 1980s. He played in 6 finals, winning 3 VFL Premierships: “Winning […] Premierships is absolutely amazing. I still pinch myself knowing that I'm part of history at the great Hawthorn footy club and I'm just so privileged to have played for them”.
What you may not know is, while Russell was succeeding on the field, off the field he was struggling with hearing loss…
“My family became very frustrated […] with me not being able to converse”.
Russell started noticing his hearing wasn’t quite right when his sons would ask him questions and he thought he’d answered them. His wife Roxy strongly encouraged him to seek help; sadly, it took Russell another 5-7 years before he did something about it: “My family became very frustrated with […] me not being able to converse”.
Roxy noticed her husband was missing out on conversations within the family and interactions with the grandchildren too. “I think Russell was in denial for a long time, so it was great when he finally realised it was time to get [his hearing] checked.”
“And that’s when his life changed. Our family life changed."
Getting his hearing checked and managing his hearing loss changed Russell’s life for the better: “It changed my life forever,” he says. “It’s made my life completely different to what it was”.
As for Roxy, she says “And that’s when his life changed. Our family life changed.”
