"Suddenly, every sound was gone."
Your kindness could provide someone with connection and companionship today.
Your kindness can change lives
I became totally deaf overnight after fracturing my skull, aged 21. The evening before I was part of the world I knew – filled with music, laughter with friends, and the simple comfort of easy conversation. By morning, that world had gone.
'Sorry, that's it,' the doctors told me. 'The sound is over.' And with that, my future had died. It was utterly terrifying and crushingly lonely.
I grieved for many years. I grieved for the next song I would never hear, for all the friends who quietly backed away and for all my dreams and plans. It was all gone.
I learnt that day to day life doesn’t have subtitles. People appeared and disappeared without warning, startling me. Their mouths moved in silence. I spoke too loudly, misunderstood conversations and felt the burn of public humiliation, again and again.
But a dog's devotion, love and trust can restore your self-belief in a glance. And the arrival of my first hearing dog, Clyde, totally changed the course of my life.
Without words, he seemed to say to me, "You're not alone. We've got this."
The hope of having a hearing dog is what got me through those darkest years. I expected Clyde to alert me to important sounds. But I never imagined the deep emotional connection that we would share.
When I suddenly lost my hearing, I felt powerless. It was like the world was moving on, leaving me behind. But with those little eyes looking up into mine, and those perked-up ears listening so intently, I'm part of life again.
Over the years, all three of my hearing dogs have freed me from so much isolation - and I've been their totally devoted human companion. In 2010, I was partnered with the big handsome Woody who introduced me to so many new people - I felt like the personal assistant to a celebrity star!
Now, walking with my clever boy, Onyx, is my social life. If I have the same conversation repeatedly - about dogs, the weather, vet visits - it doesn't matter. Even if I don't lipread everything correctly, that doesn't matter either. It's the connection that really matters.
Thank you so much for supporting my journey today. It means more than I can ever say.
After the devastation of sudden hearing loss, Trevor rediscovered hope for his future with his life-changing hearing dogs by his side. You can give this precious gift of hope and connection to another deaf person, today.