Chris White

Chris White

Freelance journalist, photographer and charity consultant
chris@thisischriswhite.com

BBC News •

Plan B and Chris Martin back earplug campaign

Tinnitus sufferer Plan B is supporting a charity campaign which urges music fans to protect their hearing. Tinnitus, a constant buzzing in the ear, is often caused by loud music and is prevalent among musicians and frequent concert-goers. The Loud Music campaign aims to make people aware of the dangers. "If you're listening to music a lot, producing music or performing live, then always wear earplugs," said Plan B. "You're not Superman!"
Mirror •

'Terrible ringing in his ears and excruciating headaches': Chris Martin's secret ten-year hearing torment

Coldplay star Chris Martin has performed in front of millions of screaming fans since hitting the big time 12 years ago. But for the past decade we can reveal that the star has also been plagued with the excruciating ear condition, tinnitus. The seven-time Grammy winner was warned by doctors that the debilitating ringing in his ears – coupled with splitting headaches – could end his stellar music career.
The Sun •

Enders Rita: My little girl could lose her hearing tomorrow

EASTENDERS star Rita Simons has opened her heart about her daughter’s deafness – and revealed her little girl will eventually lose her hearing entirely. The actress uses a BBC1 documentary to explore options open to five-year-old Maiya. And she was moved to tears during her journey to plan for her child’s future. She says: “Because there’s a chance of her losing her hearing tomorrow, we do feel like we’re walking a tightrope which we could fall off at any given moment."
Mail Online •

BBC War reporter John Simpson reveals how he copes with hearing loss caused by a bomb blast

He has dodged bullets at the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and was one of the first reporters to enter Kabul as the Taliban regime fell in 2001, famously disguising himself in a burka. John Simpson is one of Britain’s best-loved newsmen, yet to his family and friends he is increasingly a source of frustration. For the BBC world affairs editor’s fondness for frontline reporting has come at a cost: he is profoundly deaf in his left ear.
Express.co.uk •

Larry Lamb: I feared I’d lost my hearing forever

For Larry Lamb that moment came when a routine morning swim plunged him into a world of silence. The actor lost his hearing in his right ear following a bout of malaria last year and when water and wax penetrated deep into the canal  of his good ear he became completely deaf. “It was a horrible situation,” says the star who has charmed and chilled in hit TV shows including EastEnders and Gavin & Stacey. “I could not hear anything. My family were yelling at me and I was asking them to shout becau

World air guitar record falls at Womad festival

One of the 2,227 air guitarists at Womad (Samir Hussein) Festivalgoers may have become unlikely world record breakers after taking part in the biggest ever air guitar performance. More than 2,200 people rocked out to Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze at the Womad (World of Music, Arts and Dance) music, art and dance festival in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, this morning. The charity Action on Hearing Loss organised the record-busting bid and has claimed it has broken the world record for the largest number
BBC News •

Womad music festival's air guitar world record bid

An estimated 2,000 people at a music festival in Wiltshire are set to take part in a world record attempt for the largest "air guitar" ensemble. The main stage crowd at Womad Festival 2011, in Malmesbury, are due to start playing along at 1030 BST on Sunday. The current Air Guitar UK Champion, Thom 'W!ld Th!ng 37' Wilding will lead the ensemble in a rendition of Jimi Hendrix's legendary track Purple Haze. The current record was set by 1,883 people in Australia in 2009. The attempt is being o
Look to the Stars •

Stars Send Birthday Wishes To Hearing Loss Charity

The UK’s largest charity for the deaf and hard-of-hearing is celebrating its 100th birthday by changing its name – and a host of celebrities are sending birthday wishes. Following a birthday bash at Buckingham Palace last week with charity patron Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, a number of stars have sent their support to the charity including Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, Matt Bellamy, Cilla Black, Evelyn Glennie, KT Tunstall and Boy George.
The Guardian •

Ken Loach rejected music after granddaughter lost hearing

The film director Ken Loach has revealed he will not allow himself to listen to music because of his young granddaughter's deafness – and attacked "devastating" budget cuts to the NHS. Holly Loach, 11, lost her hearing after contracting meningitis when she was 13 months old. Describing the profound effect her deafness has, he said it "felt like a death in the family". In an interview with RNID, the UK charity taking action on hearing loss, Loach attacked proposed NHS budget cuts, saying Holly
Mail Online •

A teenage prank left him deaf, so why does David Bellamy refuse to use hearing aids?

Unlike the majority of deaf people, David Bellamy has no trouble pinpointing the moment when he began to lose his hearing. Not for him the gradual deterioration brought on by age. As befits the larger-than-life TV personality that entranced generations of science-mad children, he went deaf with a bang. Such an enormous bang, indeed, that it knocked him off his feet and put him in hospital for weeks of treatment. ‘I was 14 and had been experimenting with making fireworks to entertain my pals a
Mail Online •

Annette Crosbie: I'm not grumpy, just deaf! How the actress overcame her 'moodiness' with the help of hearing aids

Annette Crosbie is accustomed to people assuming she's somewhat grumpy. Indeed, the Bafta-winning actress freely admits that, along with her great friend and One Foot In The Grave co-star Richard Wilson, she has irritated her fair share of people by bluntly ignoring their attempts to spark up a conversation. What has never been revealed before, however, is that the 76-year-old is not deliberately snubbing anyone. She's deaf.
Mail Online •

How a bout of flu (and years in noisy nightclubs) left Peter Stringfellow virtually deaf

Peter Stringfellow is not the kind of man who likes to offend. Having spent half a century gladhanding guests in his hugely successful nightclubs, image is everything to him and upsetting people is anathema. Sometimes, however, he simply cannot help it. Such as the occasion when he was attending the Pride of Britain Awards and Tracey Emin, the enfant terrible of British art, caught him swapping her table place card with that of his wife, Bella.
Telegraph.co.uk •

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Michael Parkinson: The deaf are discriminated against

As a boy growing up in a South Yorkshire pit village, Michael Parkinson would sit and play dominoes with his redoubtable grandparents after school. There was very little else he could share with them – no family anecdotes, no wartime memories, no tales from school – because they were profoundly deaf. "They had no connection with the outside world," he says. "The sadness was that my grandfather was a fascinating character but you couldn't get to him."
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