“I couldn’t speak until I was six, but now I play football for Wales.”

In six months’ time, Corey Leighton will lace up his boots in Turkey ahead of one of the biggest football games of his career. He will represent his country at European level, a dream he pursued for years while growing up in Merthyr Tydfil, in the north-east of England, and across the continent.

But his journey began when he was just one year old and diagnosed with profound deafness. After failing a hearing test when he was eight months old, his family discovered he had a hearing problem, but only realized he wouldn’t talk when he was six years old.

A cochlear implant was the obvious solution, but it wasn’t easy to achieve. Corey’s mother, Natalie, said: “He didn’t react very well to being excited. He totally freaked out and threw it away, so we took it back to adjust it and make it smaller. So we had to keep learning to walk – [hearing] things we take for granted. “Flushing the toilet, the birds chirping, the phone ringing, the door creaking.”

Cory’s school was brilliant in supporting him, but it was difficult to find a speech therapist to work with. Natalie said she “fought and fought” to get that support outside of school.

Corey said: “Starting was not easy because I had to start from scratch. It took me a long time to understand the hearing thing. It has been improving throughout my life and from the beginning until today it has been a huge improvement. I went from basics to reading books out loud. Now I hear everything.

There have been challenges (for example, Cory has had to focus a little harder to hear and understand his peers), but he is getting stronger as he adjusts to the implant. He passed all his GCSEs, achieved honors at university and after finishing his studies works as an aeronautical engineer, following in his father’s footsteps.

But since he was little, football was his true passion. “I always played football,” he said. “With a cochlear implant I can’t play any sport like rugby or boxing. At one point in my life I wanted to train as a boxer, but I couldn’t. I had a difficult upbringing with things like that, but I always liked and loved football.”

After playing for the local deaf team in Cardiff at age 12, Corey remained a free agent until he was 19 because there was simply no funding for deaf clubs. From there he began a relatively short journey across the Severn to play for Bristol City, but soon found himself traveling cross-country to Newcastle after signing for Washington, a tone-deaf team from the north-east of England.

There he got his first taste of the Champions League. But his eyes were fixed on the real prize: Wales’ international cap. He now plays for Barnet in London and won the challenge. In the match with the Scottish national team he finally fulfilled his dream: he debuted with a dragon on his shirt and scored a goal.

“I feel more comfortable playing deaf football because I’m surrounded by my deaf friends and I’m part of that community,” he said. While playing football by ear, Corey has to make sure he can hear his teammates’ screams, and his mother tells him not to head the ball, even though he does it anyway.

However, in deaf football, the implant is turned off, so the playing field is level. He added: “I have more confidence because everyone is like me. When they listen to football, people have to shout loudly at me and the wind and rain can affect the implant.”

Playing for Wales, he says, means he represents interests on two fronts: he’s not just playing on behalf of his country, but also on behalf of the deaf community. “Playing for Wales is a huge achievement in my life,” he said. “You could feel the atmosphere, especially in my first game against Scotland, where there were a lot of people watching. It was a phenomenal experience with all my family and friends. The friends were incredible and we had a mascot, national anthem, everything.

“It was the best feeling. It also stimulates my football career because clubs ask me to come to them.”

Since making his debut, he has played in a 2-1 win over Ireland and a 2-2 draw with England. In October, he finally got the call he had been waiting for. He is part of the Wales squad during their trip to Turkey for the European Football Championship for the Deaf. Trips to Newcastle, years of adapting to the implant: this is the culmination.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have made it this far without a cochlear implant,” Corey said. “I just want to raise awareness about this.”

Natalie praises Ynysowen Community Primary School, which Cory attended, and his assistant teacher, Jackie Jones. “The school and its hearing department continued to contact us about any issues that arose,” he said. “The school has been excellent in making sure you have the correct processor you need and that you use it. They signed him to a contract, which I think I was against at first, and it was difficult.

“But we had to communicate somehow before he got the implant and bridge the gap after that. “He didn’t speak until he was six.”

She also has advice for other parents. “It’s a long process and also scary because you are making an important decision for your child. Are you thinking, “Am I making the right decision?”

“And I know at 15 Corey said, ‘Why did you let me do that? I want to do boxing. “I want to play rugby.” And I would wonder if I did the right thing. But if you have the right support, do it. “It had a huge impact on our lives, and without it,” he says, “he probably wouldn’t be where he is today.”