'Damson's my ears, but she's also my best friend'

A YOUNG woman who woke up one day “profoundly deaf” and was later “spat on” for using sign language in public has praised her hearing dog for transforming her life.

- Eleanor Fleming and Hannah Cottrell report

Alison Wallace, 28, based in Flintshire, woke up one morning at the age of 13 to find her hearing had disappeared overnight, marking the start of six years where it would disappear and reappear - but in 2020, it “never came back”.

Alison was found to have a “very rare” auto-immune condition of the inner ear, and her impairment saw her struggle with her self-esteem until she felt like a “shadow” of herself - having nightmares “every night” and watching her friends disappear.

Shortly after starting her first job in 2018, Alison said, she was using sign language to communicate with her support worker in public when a youth turned and “mocked” their hand signals before he “spat” on her, leaving her feeling “dehumanised and disrespected”.

Alison’s life changed for the better, though, when she was introduced to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a UK charity training dogs to support those who are deaf.

She was matched with a hearing dog named Damson in April 2019, who will now alert Alison to vital sounds such as the smoke alarm or the doorbell, and she helps her sleep peacefully at night.

The emotional support Damson provides to Alison has also been “indescribable”, and she has since passed her driving test and moved in with her partner, Maciej Filipiak, 31, after the pair met on a dog walk - and they are now expecting their first child together.

“Just as I was hitting puberty, my life became about deafness and mental health,” Alison, who works as youth development lead for the King’s Trust Achieve programme, told PA Real Life.