Sad news in the Belgian newspapers today. Dietrich Hectors, a 29-year old Belgian metalhead (and a doctor of engineering) killed himself last Friday because he was suffering from a severe form of tinnitus and hyperacusis. Tinnitus is an incurable condition, where the ear is permanently damaged, resulting in an over-sensitivity to certain frequency ranges of sound. Despite taking some sort of medication, in the end, every single sound hurted his ears, especially his own voice. "This disease controls my life: every word hurts."

His ears got damaged permanently after a Sepultura concert in 1996. From then on, he used ear plugs for almost every loud activity. After a rehearsel with his metal band - where he forgot his plugs because he was in a hurry - his condition got worse. Eventually, Dietrich Hectors was forced to quit the band in 2003. He also gave up most of his social life - avoiding pubs etc. - locking himself up in total loneliness and silence. After visiting a small, local music festival in 2006, he took off his ear plugs, just when people started firing fireworks right next to him. When he got his plugs back in, already a few explosions had passed. The next few days, his ears started hurting like never before.

In his goodbye letter, Hectors wrote: "For the first time in my life, the ringing noise in my ears is totally unbearable. It goes beyond anything. Despite the heavier medication, EVERYTHING is hurting my ears, especially my own voice. I can no longer communicate - just when I really needed to talk with the people around me the most. A hundred times, I tried to fight back, kept myself in silence, involved in antisocial behaviour - waiting for some sort of improvement. But there is a line somewhere. That line is reached. Please respect my choice, my life has become a living hell."

He also added he now regrets his switch in musical preferences from hard-rock to heavy metal...



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Morale de l'histoire: WEAR EARPLUGS!