Thanks to the thousands of people that have supported Hearing Dogs for Deaf People’s fundraising initiatives, like our raffles, the Charity has been able to make incredible differences to the lives of severely and profoundly deaf people throughout the UK.
Funds raised by people like you have enabled the training and placement of Fynn, and many other hearing dogs like him, providing independence, confidence and companionship to deaf people. Fynn, a Bichon Frisé and originally from Battersea Dogs Home, was placed with Inez James, from Yeovil, Somerset in January 2010.
Inez, who became deaf at 16-months-old due to contracting meningitis, says: “Before I had Fynn I felt so isolated and I tended to withdraw and avoid conversations with anybody. I had little confidence and never socialised because I couldn’t hear.”
Since having Flynn for the last 15 months, Inez’s life has completely turned around. Fynn’s special burgundy hearing dog jacket is a clear indicator of Inez’s otherwise largely invisible disability. “Now people stop and talk to me in the street and I feel far less lonely,” explains Inez. “He has given me so much more confidence and has become my lifeline to the outside world. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Fynn is trained to alert Inez to her front doorbell, cooker timer, smoke alarm and telephone. Inez adds: “Fynn has changed my life completely and I would urge people to take part in the Hearing Dogs Summer Raffle so that the training of more hearing dogs can be funded. They make such a profound difference to the lives of their deaf recipients.
