VIDEO: Woman hears for the first time after implants turned on

A 40-year-old UK woman, deaf from birth, has her cochlear implants turned on. Kleenex at the ready.

This clip of a UK woman hearing for the first time in her life will melt your heart.

Forty-year-old Joanne Milne - Jo to her friends - from Gateshead had surgery last month to install cochlear implants.

Jo, who was born deaf, is also registered blind after losing her vision in her late 20s to a rare condition called Usher syndrome, The Journal newspaper reports.

"It was heart-breaking when her eyesight started to worsen, and although she is okay around the house or pub she has to use Matt the guide dog to get around now," said her friend Tremayne Crossley,, who filmed the clip below.

"None of this has ever stopped her being brilliant fun and a beautiful person, she has mentored so many deaf blind people and is an inspiration to everyone who knows her."

Watch below as Jo's implants are switched on, and she hears for the first time in her life.

Jo's story was highlighted today by DJ Lauren Laverne on her BBC Radio 6 programme, after a compilation of music for her was sent in - byTremayne - for the show's '#MemoryTapes' slot, which features listener compilations.

The mixtape was intended as an 'introduction to music' for Jo - who had never heard music before.

"Jo has never been able to hear voices or music, she just gets what can only be described as white noise through her hearing aids," Tremayne said.

"Jo has recently had a bilateral cochlear implant in an attempt to restore her hearing, this is being gradually switched on over 5 sessions.

"The volume has to be increased slowly to allow the brain to adjust to the new information coming from the ears – Jo told me about a guy who went grey over a one month period due to the shock of hearing how noisy the world actually is.

"It was with this in mind that Jo asked me to put a playlist of songs together, songs that I thought she needed to hear or that would form an 'Introduction To Music' playlist."

So he did.

And Lauren played it.

And it was really quite lovely.

You can read more about Jo's story here.

And for the record, here's the chosen playlist for her first-ever introduction to music. Tremayne has good taste, we'll say that much:

An Introduction To Music:

Ken Boothe – Everything I Own

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – She’s the One - Live at Hammersmith Odeon

Paul McCartney – Silly Love Songs

Joni Mitchell – Black Crow

Steely Dan – Peg

Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky

Gary Numan – Are ‘friends’ Electric?

The Specials – Do Nothing

Soft Cell – Tainted Love

The Jam – Town Called Malice

Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

Prince – When Doves Cry

Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)

The Smiths – Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others

Fleetwood Mac – Big Love - Live (Lindsey Buckingham solo acoustic version)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car

The The August & September

Deee-Lite – Groove Is In The Heart

Ozric Tentacles – Sploosh!

INXS – Baby Don’t Cry

Nirvana – All Apologies

Richard Thompson – King Of Bohemia

Pulp – Common People - Full Length Version / Album Version

Everything But The Girl – Missing

Foo Fighters – Everlong

Massive Attack – Teardrop

Jimmy Eat World – For Me This Is Heaven

The Avalanches – Frontier Psychiatrist

Daft Punk – Digital Love

The Streets – Turn The Page

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps

Beastie Boys – An Open Letter To NYC

Nine Inch Nails – The Hand That Feeds

Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Elbow - One Day Like This

Maximo Park – Tanned

Gruff Rhys – Shark Ridden Waters

The Joy Formidable – Whirring

Bat For Lashes – Laura

Haim – Don’t Save Me