An 11-year-old boy from Wales, who was partially deaf for nearly 10 years, was suddenly cured when a thick piece of cotton popped out of his ear, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

Jerome Bartens was diagnosed as deaf in his right ear when he was just two-years-old.

Over the next nine years, he struggled to live a normal life as a young boy — but everything changed when he felt a sudden pop in his right ear while playing a game of pool with friends.

He put his finger in his ear and pulled out a tip of a cotton wool bud that had been wedged in his ear since he was a toddler.

"It was just incredible — his hearing returned to normal in an instant," Barten's dad said.

"I had always suspected Jerome had stuck something in his ear when he was little and that was causing the problem. But the doctors and hearing specialists said it was wax and he would probably grow out of it."

"I am amazed they didn't spot something as obvious as a cotton wool bud."

Jerome is due to be examined by hearing experts later this week — and his dad is taking along the cotton wool bud as proof of his "miracle cure".

"It was very strange at first to be able to hear everything," said Barten.

"But now I'm getting used to it — it's great that people don't have to shout to me or that I don't have to turn my head all the time."

Click here for more on this story, including photos, from The Mail.