“Without Quattro, I face the day alone again”

With hearing dog Quattro, Jackie felt part of the world around her. Since Quattro passed away, that world has shrunk, and she feels terribly lonely. But you can help Jackie get back what she has lost...

I was so proud to start a family, but that’s when my deafness raised its head. As a new mum, I was terrified because I couldn’t hear my babies crying. I was always anxious.

Later, I depended on my children to tell me when the phone was ringing, or someone was at the door. I felt it should have been the other way around. Mums shouldn’t depend on their children.

I also couldn’t chat with other mums at school – parenting tips, local news, jokes, that sort of thing. I started to struggle, looking after a family in my silent world.

Eventually, having lost all my confidence to interact with life around me, I retreated from it.

My mother and auntie had hearing dogs, and they were amazing. So, feeling increasingly hopeless because of my deafness, I approached Hearing Dogs for help.

Then Quattro came into my life. We bonded immediately, and I changed overnight.

Jackie with hearing dog Quattro

For the first time ever, I didn’t have to rely on someone waking me up! Quattro was there, wagging her tail.

She nudged me with her nose to alert me to the phone, doorbell, cooker timer, my children crying – all those things going on around me that I didn’t know about, which had made me feel so insecure.

Just two months later, I joined a mother and baby group and made friends. Quattro let the toddlers stroke her lovely soft fur. She was as gentle as a feather.

Quattro made life with deafness actually ‘liveable’, with my faithful companion by my side. Life even became fun again, with happy mornings, helpful nose nudges, and new friends.

I had Quattro for many beautiful years. When she passed away, all that stopped.

No more happy mornings. No more nose nudges. No new friends.

Now, without Quattro, I feel so lonely. I’m living on my own because my children have grown up and left home. Each daunting, dreaded day brings a new challenge which I face alone.

I hate not knowing what’s going on around me. For example, if I’m expecting a delivery, I watch and wait for it all day, because I can’t hear the doorbell or knock. If I miss it, I get very upset.

I spend most of my time alone and isolated. I don’t feel safe in public, because I can’t hear things such as cars, alarms and announcements. Since I don’t go out, I’m unable to maintain good relationships with people, and I feel cut off from the world.

I feel like I don’t have a social life anymore, so my self-esteem has plummeted, and I feel lonely all the time. I need another hearing dog to pull me out of these dark times.

I also worry a lot at night, on my own. After trying everything else, I now know that only a hearing dog can reliably wake me up at a specific time, when the alarm clock goes. I work at a supermarket, and when I have an early shift, I worry so much about missing the alarm that I simply do not sleep. It’s exhausting.

I so very much want to embrace life, but I can’t because I don’t have my beautiful, gentle Quattro to look after me. She helped me become more involved with the world around me. Now, all that has gone.

I need a new hearing dog – what they call a ‘successor dog’. I need a new friend, who will take over where Quattro left me. I need the profound trust that will help me to stop feeling afraid, lost and alone.

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Our hearing dogs help deaf people overcome feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression and isolation. They also become a deaf person's best friend. 

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