Former conductor, Frédéric Lopez made himself known to the general public by hosting for fourteen years Meeting in unknown landbefore launching A Sunday in the countryside. After years of hiding his illness, he decided to break the silence this Wednesday, March 27, during an interview given to our colleagues at Nice morning. At the age of 56, the TV host suffered from otosclerosis, a disease affecting the bone tissue of the inner ear. In 2019, the host revealed that he had tried to alleviate his disability by undergoing a supposedly routine surgical operation. Unfortunately, it was a failure: “I had surgery on my right ear, but it didn’t work. [Je] Don’t hear anything more about that.”
This is why he chose to wear a hearing aid on the right side to preserve what little hearing he had left: “I have 50% of my faculties [du côté gauche] and tinnitus, comparable to the sound of a constant vacuum cleaner”, he nevertheless admits. When the first symptoms appeared, Frédéric Lopez remembers doubting his ability to overcome this handicap, before trying to put the situation into perspective: “It’s complicated when your job is to listen. But that’s how it is, I accept it.” Finally, he confides that the discomfort often comes from those around him, when they realize that he has a hearing aid.
Frédéric Lopez, soon in a hearing aid advertisement?
Appreciated by the public, Frédéric Lopez had until now always refused to advertise a product or associate his image with a brand. However, those days seem to be over. The one who now fully accepts his handicap has also confided to Nice morning that he “would like to promote hearing aids”, remembering the day when one of his relatives advised him to “wait” before getting a hearing aid, advice that he did not understand: “Wait for what ?” Well, nothing! Frédéric Lopez is a fervent defender of hearing aids and he makes it known. After all : “How many people wear glasses without it being a problem?”
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias.
Photo credits: Giancarlo Gorassini/Bestimage