Lisa with hearing dog, Hunter
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People trains dogs to alert deaf people to sounds they would otherwise miss, simple sounds that many people take for granted like the doorbell, alarm clock and even danger signals like the fire alarm. Thanks to a hearing dog being aware of these sounds, a real difference can be made to deaf peoples’ lives. We recently received this update from them….
Thank you
The kind support we received from The Hospital Saturday Fund has enabled Hearing Dogs for Deaf People to continue our work with severely or profoundly deaf people. With help from generous donors such as yourselves, we are achieving great results and seeing huge benefits to our recipients’ lives.
Key points
- Through all of our services, we have helped over 4,300 deaf people.
- We are now providing support to 964 partnerships throughout the UK, including 45 hearing dogs for children.
- We carry out over 2,600 support visits in one year, providing regular help, monitoring, welfare and healthcare advice.
- In the last financial year, we successfully trained 209 puppies and matched 188 of these with deaf people.
- We also received and responded to 2,345 enquiries through our volunteer led Helpdesk.
Lisa’s story
I was born profoundly deaf, and as the only deaf person in my family I have always struggled to feel like I belonged. I just about managed with two hearing aids. However, five years ago I had a viral infection on my brain which resulted in losing the little remaining hearing I had. I became depressed and had to stop working. I became completely isolated. I felt like I was trapped in a glass box. I could be seen but I was alone and ignored.
Then the beautiful Hunter came along and changed everything. Every day is better with him. I can’t hear the alarm clock, so Hunter wakes me up every morning. He alerts me to mobile phone messages, the doorbell, and he will nudge me to tell me when someone is calling “mam” and then takes me to them. I have never slept so well since having Hunter, knowing that he will wake me up if the smoke alarm goes off
Having Hunter has been my lifeline. He’s my ears and my companion. Without him I would never have dreamed of getting back into the land of the living and enjoying life again. He’s allowed me to just be ‘me’ again.
Lisa
To find out more please visit https://www.hearingdogs.org.uk
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