A lot of people say they wouldn't be where they are today if it were not for one of their teachers, but for six-year-old Judah Jackson this is especially true after doctors said his kindergarten teacher saved him from a lifetime of pain.
When Judah didn't listen to instructions or what others were saying, his parents and teachers thought he may just be using selective hearing.
They were having to repeat themselves and would get no response. It wasn't until his Nulkaba Public School kindergarten teacher Carly Forster realised he may be suffering from hearing loss.
If she hadn't, he would have suffered from a number of issues as he grew older.
"Doctors said that had we not gotten on top of it as soon as we did and had his teacher not come to us then he could of had some significant damage in the future," said Judah's mum Tristan Jackson.
"We picked up on it but we sort of asked ourselves if he was having hearing dramas or if it was just a bit of selective hearing but then the teacher came to us and said she is having some dramas as well so we realised maybe there is something a bit more to it."
Ms Jackson said Judah's kindergarten teacher was the one who saved his hearing.
"His teacher noticed she was having to repeat herself a lot in class and Judah wasn't quite hearing and picking up some of the things she was explaining to him to do in class.
"We had a similar experience at home where he just seemed to be not hearing things or not quite understanding what we were saying so the school did a hearing test."
Over 13 per cent of primary school aged students suffer some kind of hearing loss, according to new research from the World Health Organisation.
If it is not picked up at an early stage it can lead to poor speech and language development, poor educational outcomes and delayed emotional development.
The research recommends school screening programs to ensure hearing loss is detected, which Ms Jackson said promoted Judah to get life saving surgery on his ears.
"When he come out of the operation, he woke up complaining of the noise of all the machines beeping around him and said how much better he could hear and that everything was really noisy."
Now, his mum describes him as a completely different child that is improving everyday.
"He is struggling because kindergarten is pretty important and to not have those foundations and that groundwork initially is a bit of a worry.
"We have been a bit worried that he may not progress as well as he should or that he was behind everyone in class but now he is starting to progress really well.
"Because of the hearing issue he has a special teacher that comes in twice a week now and helps him out to try and get him up to where he should be which he wouldn't have if he didn't have the hearing drama, but that is just another teacher that has shaped his life.
"We have absolutely noticed a massive difference in him and he is actually hearing the correct thing, which is a big, big thing to us.
"Even a few weeks later when we were driving in the car he was saying 'the music sounds so good mum, it is so good that my ears are fixed now because I can hear the music really well' so it has been very nice to have our son back."
