Calum comes back to Ireland a hero

It was a right hooley in Ballyhooly as the country’s first “bionic ear” patient returned home armed with an award for bravery.

Calum Geary was greeted by scores of well-wishers as he arrived to his home in the Co Cork village — just days after undergoing the pioneering treatment at Manchester University Hospital.

The three-year-old, who was born deaf, had missing nerve implants inserted in his brain and these were attached to a box in his ear which will pick up sounds.