NEWS COPY
Meet Emma Healey, the woman who’s barely had a proper night’s sleep in nearly three decades - because she lives minutes away from Heathrow airport.
Emma, 31, lives with her mum Jane and two-year-old daughter Felicity on Lewin Terrace, one of the noisiest streets in the country - just a stone’s throw from the airport’s Terminal Four.
Emma, who has lived by the airport for 28 years, said: “Even after all this time, I’m not used to the sound.
“Sometimes I can even hear the planes being filled with fuel - that’s how close they are.
“Christmas is particularly noisy, and you can literally hear an airplane going over every 90 seconds - it’s just become the norm for me.
“In the summer, it gets so hot in the house that we can’t get the windows open.
“Trying to watch TV is particularly impossible, you have to turn it up so loud you don’t enjoy watching TV any more, blaring in your face.”
“They say the airplanes are supposed to stop at 11pm but they don’t, they still carry on through the night.”
Every year, some 475,000 ‘movements’ - the industry term for arrivals and departures - take place at Heathrow, with a plane taking off or landing on average every 45 seconds.
To help Emma finally get some peace and quiet, global smartphone manufacturer, Huawei gifted her a pair of wireless Freebuds 3 earphones, to drown out some of the external noise.
This will come as a relief for Emma, who says the noise from the airport has not only affected her sleep at home, but also her social life.
She says: “Having friends over, I always suggest they can stay over if they have a drink, but they kindly decline because it’s too noisy for them."
Technology company Huawei, also conducted research into what sounds Brits love the most, and which ones drive them mad in their homes.
The survey, of 2,000 adults, found rain tapping on a window is the most pleasant sound to reach Brits’ ears.
More than four in 10 selected the soothing noise of waves meeting the shore, while a third opted for a crackling log fire.
Other sounds Brits find pleasing include tennis balls going back and forth over a tennis net at Wimbledon, and the pop-and-fizz of a champagne bottle opening.
But one in five Brits regularly hear garbage trucks rumbling up and down their street, and another tenth are disturbed by the passing of nearby trains.
A quarter polled via OnePoll wish they lived somewhere quieter, and on average, adults lose two night’s sleep each week due to noise on their street.
Justin Costello, head of marketing, Huawei UK & Ireland, commented: “With the busiest flying weekend of Christmas just around the corner, we thought who more deserving than the people who live under the flight path of the busiest airport in the country, to gift them a pair of Huawei Freedbuds 3.
“We hope that their brand new Freebuds 3 give the residents a more peaceful Christmas, with the active noise cancellation feature, and the ability to enjoy crystal clear music even over the sound of a commercial jet plane.”
BRITS’ TOP 40 FAVOURITE SOUNDS
1. Rain on the window
2. Waves crashing
3. Crackling fire
4. Walking on fresh snow
5. Birds singing
6. Church bells
7. Sounds of laughing
8. Baby giggling
9. The cat purring
10. A thunderstorm
11. Kettle boiling
12. Seagulls
13. Someone playing guitar
14. Lawnmower
15. Sheep baaing
16. Sound of Wimbledon - tennis ball going back and forth
17. Dinner being served up
18. Children chattering
19. A running bath
20. The cheers as a favourite football team wins the game
21. Opening a beer bottle
22. Carol singers
23. Bagpipes
24. Cows mooing
25. Horse hooves clicking
26. Mail dropping on the door mat
27. Food cooking on the hob
28. Turning the page on a book
29. People milling outside a pub
30. EastEnders theme tune
31. The radio playing or TV being left on
32. Popping bubble wrap
33. Mum singing
34. The toaster popping
35. Someone jumping into water
36. The heating clicking on
37. Crickets on holiday
38. A champagne cork popping
39. The front door opening
40. Children role playing
ENDS
