"Before I had Hattie, I made a lot of excuses to stay at home. Now, I don’t bury my head in the sand"

For Fiona, being unable to hear vital sounds like the baby monitor and fire alarm was taking a huge toll on her wellbeing.

Then, she was partnered with lovely Labrador, Hattie, whose practical and emotional support has had an incredible impact on her mental health.

Fiona shares their story: 

I was born with hearing loss after my mum caught German measles while pregnant. By the time I was two years old, I was profoundly deaf. 

I use a combination of British Sign Language and little spoken English to communicate. I also now have a cochlear implant fitted on my left side and wear a hearing aid in my right ear, which helps with my balance.  

My husband, Michael, is also deaf. When we moved into our marital home, we had a flashing smoke alarm installed and a doorbell alert. However, we began to feel vulnerable as the flashing lights identified us as deaf people. We worried that burglars would think we were an easy target. 

When we had our children, Leon and Livia, my biggest nightmare was worrying about missing the children calling for me at night. So, we installed a pager system to alert us to the baby alarm, smoke alarm, doorbell and alarm clock. However, it was very sensitive to sounds, so sometimes I would rush to see the babies to find that they were just coughing or just moving about. 

I also had a vibrating plate that I put under my pillow, but quite often it slipped out and fell onto the floor so I didn’t hear the baby alarm. As a result of all this, I suffered from insomnia, big time.  

I work for Network Rail and my job sometimes involves me staying overnight in hotels. Once, when I was working away, the fire alarm went off. Everyone left the building, except me. Luckily, my interpreter I was travelling with came to get me. Otherwise, I don’t know what would’ve happened. 

The whole family was really excited and very emotional when we heard I’d been matched with Hattie. I was beside myself as I couldn’t believe it. I needed someone to pinch me so I could know it was true! We love her to bits.  

Hattie has had a really positive impact on my mental health – I’ve noticed a tangible reduction in my anxiety. I have more friends at work now because of Hattie. I sometimes struggle to get any work done because they keep coming over to say hello! 

Before, especially during COVID time, people wouldn’t have any patience with me or would even get angry at me. I felt embarrassed and as though I was being treated like a child, when I just needed to understand what was going on. Even at work, there are so many people who hadn’t realised I was deaf until I got Hattie.

Now, when I’m out and about with Hattie, you can almost see the lightbulb coming on in people’s minds and they take their time to communicate with me. It’s a really big, positive change.

At work, I’m in a buddy system so one of my colleagues comes to get me if the fire alarm goes off, but Hattie now alerts me before anyone else. Recently, the alarm went off and she immediately started frantically nudging me and then dropped to the floor. When I looked up, I saw my colleagues leaving the building! 

Hattie is not just a hearing dog, she is my emotional therapy dog and has had a wonderful effect on surrounding people, too. Before I had her, I made a lot of excuses to stay at home. Now, I don’t bury my head in the sand. I take it all in my stride.