A Bristol woman whose confidence “crumbled away” as her hearing deteriorated says a specially trained hearing dog has helped her rebuild her life and reconnect with the world.

Linda Smith, 66, is now profoundly deaf, having experienced worsening hearing loss from her early twenties alongside balance problems that sometimes caused her to fall without warning. Living alone, she says everyday life became increasingly difficult – and deeply isolating.

“I couldn’t hear everyday sounds, so I wore my hearing aids 24 hours a day – even in bed. When my mum became ill, I kept them on at night with my Bluetooth transmitter attached so I could hear the phone if she called. My sleep was very broken as it dug into my neck.”

Even simple outings became exhausting and stressful.

“Once at the supermarket, someone physically moved me because I hadn’t heard them ask me to step aside. It was a huge shock, as I hadn’t even known they were there. On the street, I had joggers knock into me or shout abuse because I hadn’t moved out of their way. Gradually, I stopped wanting to deal with people at all.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Linda shielded as clinically vulnerable due to an auto-immune disease – and said it “gave her permission to hide”.

Her working life suffered too, with communication challenges eventually forcing her to leave her job. Despite applying for new roles, she struggled to find employment, which took a significant toll on her mental health and confidence.

The tipping point came after a serious incident at home, when Linda failed to hear her boiler burst.

“I’d just finished getting ready to go to a close friend’s wedding. I put my hearing aids back in and that’s when I heard water running.

“I went downstairs and was met with more water than I’ve ever seen outside a swimming pool. It was everywhere – pouring through light fittings, streaming down walls and gushing through the kitchen window. I knew then that something had to change.”

Linda applied to the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, which trains dogs to alert deaf people to important and often life-saving sounds – from smoke and fire alarms to doorbells, alarm clocks, and even a baby crying. In July 2025, she was partnered with a yellow Labrador called Toffee.

“I loved him instantly and trust him implicitly,” she said.

Toffee now alerts Linda to key sounds in her home, including the smoke alarm, allowing her to sleep without wearing her hearing aids for the first time in years – and giving her a far greater sense of safety.

“The first night I had him, I took my hearing aids out before I went to bed and slept without fear, knowing he would alert me if there was any danger.

“Before Toffee, I would leave the front door unlocked and my family would just walk in, as I can’t hear the doorbell. Now I can keep the door locked, safe in the knowledge that he will let me know when someone’s there.”

But beyond the practical support, Linda says Toffee has transformed her confidence and independence.

“I now choose to go to the shops by myself rather than shop online or ask my sisters to go for me,” she said. “People stop to chat and ask to say hello to Toffee, which makes the experience far more enjoyable. I go out twice a day now just to walk him and I’ve lost a stone and a half in weight!”

Toffee’s burgundy Hearing Dogs jacket has also made Linda’s deafness more visible to others – something she says has helped her feel more comfortable in her own skin. “He has helped me to embrace my deafness. I no longer hide it,” she said.

And the companionship? That, Linda says, has made the most profound difference of all. “He has made me happier than I’ve been in a long time. I sometimes wonder how I lived without him.”