1,000-Mile Bike Ride to Fight Tinnitus

PORTLAND, OR (September 2002) - The chair of the American Tinnitus Association, a 70-year-old Chicago attorney is riding a bicycle1,000-miles to raise awareness of tinnitus. The event is sponsored by Phonak Hearing Systems and Cochlear Americas.

Attorney Sid Kleinman, a long-time cyclist who wears a Phonak Claro 311 hearing aid in his left ear and is fitted with Cochlear's ESPrit 3G speech processor in his right, will ride an average of 70 miles a day for 13 days to promote the cause.

Kleinman has suffered from tinnitus as well as serious hearing deficiencies for more than three decades. He lost all usable hearing in his right ear without warning in the space of 30 minutes in 1967, accompanied both by tinnitus and Meniere's symptoms. The hearing in his left ear deteriorated to a moderate-to-severe hearing loss over a period of years, again accompanied by tinnitus.

Kleinman is ex-treasurer and newly elected chair of the American Tinnitus Association, has provided one-on-one counseling to tinnitus sufferers, and has spoken on the subject at several conferences. His bicycle ride will begin in Minneapolis on September 22 and take him through Pepin, WI; Genoa, WI; Dubuque, IA; Davenport, IA; Burlington, IA; Quincy, IL; Alton, IL; St Louis, MO; Perryville, MO; Cairo, IL; and Dyersburg, TN. The ride will end on October 4 in Memphis.

Click here to visit the Cochlear Americas website.

Click here to visit the Phonak website.