Woman who became deaf overnight and was ‘spat on’ for using sign language credits hearing dog for transforming her life

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.

Alison Wallace, 28, based in Flintshire, Wales, 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.

“I had no confidence and no self-esteem, I felt a shadow of myself.

“The mental health side of having Damson has been indescribable and it’s the hardest thing to try and explain how much she means to me.

“She’s my ears but she’s also my best friend.”

Alison’s life changed overnight in 2010 when, at the age of 13, she woke up “profoundly deaf” after previously being fully hearing for her entire life.

“My mum had called me to get up and wash the dishes and when I didn’t answer, she assumed I was ignoring her,” she said.

Alison said her hearing remained like this for three weeks before it returned, but “just as quickly, it went away again”.

She struggled on and off with her hearing for six years and it was found she has a “very rare” auto-immune condition of the inner ear.

In 2020, Alison lost her hearing and it “never came back”.

She is now profoundly deaf in both ears and wears hearing aids, preferring to communicate with British Sign Language (BSL).

The impairment weighed heavily on Alison throughout her youth, where she had nightmares “every night”, her friends disappeared, and her self-esteem dropped.

“I used to fall asleep with the TV or a light on because I was terrified when it was fully dark and silent,” she said.

“I lost my friends almost overnight, they were either too weirded-out by the change or didn’t have the patience to try and communicate with me.”

Alison said she relied on her parents, Lorraine, 65, and Billy, 69, for “everything”, and her teenage years were spent watching TV at home with them.

As her peers began to select their career paths, Alison said she “didn’t have a clue what I was going to do.”

“On my first day at sixth-form college, I was told, ‘no deaf person goes to university, there’s nothing you can study, there’s no support for you’,” she said.

Thankfully, Alison said her tutor pointed her in the direction of a sign language and deaf studies degree at the University of Central Lancashire.

Soon after starting her first job at the Deafness Resource Centre in 2018, she and her communication support worker were signing to each other in the street when a group of youths walked by.

“As they passed, I turned to look back and saw one of the boys do mocking hand signals, he caught my eye and I challenged him,” she said.

“He spat on me before walking away with his friends.

“I’d dealt with bad attitudes to deafness before, but nothing so blatantly degrading.

“I felt dehumanised and disrespected.”

Luckily, Alison’s life was transformed when she was introduced to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

“When I heard I’d been matched with my hearing dog Damson in April 2019, I felt at peace for the first time in years,” Alison said.

Damson is trained to alert Alison to a variety of sounds, such as the smoke alarm, the doorbell and the alarm clock.

“I feel much safer going out at night now. I know I’m not alone when I have Damson with me and I feel protected and trust she would alert me to something going on,” she said.

“If someone breaks in, she would tell me before someone was in the bedroom – I don’t have that constant ‘what if’ anymore.”

The emotional support Damson provides has also been remarkable, for Alison has had the confidence to try driving lessons, pass her driving test, move out of her family home and secure her current job – which often involves public speaking to groups of 100 children or more.

Alison now lives with her partner, Maciej, after the pair met on a dog walk in May 2020, and they are expecting their first child.

“I still have some poor mental health days, but on the days when I’m bad Damson just stays by my side,” she said.

“She makes me feel I can give anything a try and I can’t imagine my life without her.”