Dwayne Rea '90 lives an adventurous life. Fun for him is kayaking down whitewater rivers, flying planes through sapphire skies, climbing mountains, cycling, backpacking, hunting, while his more sedate interests include programming computers, collecting stamps and coins, singing and calling square dances.
But Rea's active lifestyle was threatened five years ago. While sitting at his computer at work, he felt a strange sensation in his ears. It took just five seconds, he says, for his hearing to disappear.
Doctors told him a virus had attacked his auditory nerve. They also said some of his hearing might return, which, to date, about 50 percent has. "Every person reacts differently to viruses," says Rea, a business graduate who works as assistant controller and programmer for Continental Timber in Valley Center, Kan. "Some sniffle, some will get respiratory problems — and some lose their hearing."
As a result of his hearing impairment, some aspects of Rea's life had to change, but not as many as one might suspect. "I can't fly alone anymore," he says. "And I haven't kayaked." But he still sings and hunts — and calls square dances. He explains he knows all his songs by heart and finds his place in the music by touching a speaker to feel the bass rhythms.
Rea, who hasn't lost his sense of humor, claims the people who attend the dances he calls are there "to torture themselves by listening to me."
