Doctors at an NHS trust have performed their 150th cochlear implant, an operation that allows profoundly deaf people to hear.
Jorja Hewlett, aged one, was referred to North Bristol NHS Trust's Cochlear Implant Programme in September 2004.
Some 800 children are born each year with permanent hearing loss in the UK
The degree of hearing loss may vary, but recent research has confirmed that early diagnosis is very important.
Jorja's parents first suspected there was some hearing loss when she was just two weeks old.
"The results suggest these children will go on to develop very good speech and in most cases be able to go to a mainstream school and function like a normal hearing child in most circumstances," said Mr Philip Robinson, Director of the West of England Cochlear Implant Programme.