Meet Jessica and her joyful Hearing Assistance Dog, Jenny.
Jessica, is a chef who splits her time between renovating an old house with her fiancé Jacob and work at the family pub in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. She shares her home with two pet ducks, Ozzy and Daisy, and enjoys listening to music, crafting, and gardening in her spare time.
Jessica has been profoundly deaf since she was two years old and received a cochlear implant at three. She says her hearing loss has affected her family’s life, including moving from the farm to a town closer to support her through school. “Childhood wasn’t easy but I made it through with my positive attitude and adjusting to being an independent adult has had its difficulties but I don’t let it get the best of me. There is a lot of positives and negatives but I wouldn’t live life any other way. I have amazing support from family and friends that I really appreciate.”
Before Jenny came into her life, Jessica was struggling after moving out of home and living on her own. She experienced heavy anxiety in public, whether shopping or dining out, and was constantly exhausted from wearing her cochlear implant to bed to hear alarms, knocks at the door, or her own alarm to get to work. “I could go on and on about how life was before receiving my assistance dog Jenny.”
Jessica had always wanted a Hearing Assistance Dog since turning 18. After losing her pet dog at 24, the worry of being home alone returned. The COVID-19 pandemic made public life even harder, with masks making lipreading nearly impossible and dramatically affecting her confidence.
“For me, having a Hearing Assistance Dog means having peace in my life. At home, I can rest on a normal level and enjoy my day. She has given me security and safety at home and in public, my confidence is back and I’m not exhausted from anxiety of missing a call, alarm, someone at the door, I can finally sleep through the night. She’s given me that visibility in public for people to be aware and I can continue my shopping without being on guard.”
Jenny supports Jessica in her day-to-day life in many ways. “She gets me up every morning when the alarm goes off, she allows me to start my day off with ease. I love not having to wear the cochlear first thing in the mornings as long use hurts. When I go to the shops for a few things, she makes it easy to browse around instead of rushing in for bare essentials. I can sleep tight every night knowing she can alert me with anything that can happen.”
In the community, Jenny helps Jessica navigate new surroundings with confidence. “She makes it a breeze now, allowing other people to have understanding and patience when I’m in new surroundings.”
Jenny has changed Jessica’s life dramatically. “I love that I am back to being my confident self and her happy attitude has always helped with bringing on the day. I no longer dread going out in public myself with her by my side.”
In their spare time, Jessica and Jenny enjoy walks after dinner, playtime and gardening. “We love to go for our big walk after dinner, she knows when it’s time as we put the plates back. I play a lot with her as she has endless energy, playing tug-of-war is her favourite. We play ball, if she lets me get the ball, it’s mainly fun for her to have me chase her instead. When I’m gardening she is sunbathing in the sandpit, looking for skinks or sitting in the driveway checking out her friend Chocco from across the road. At the pub on my break we will spend the whole time in the big yard playing with other dogs that come visit.”
Jenny has changed Jessica’s life dramatically. “I love that I am back to being my confident self and her happy attitude has always helped with bringing on the day. I no longer dread going out in public myself with her by my side.”
“Jenny is a perfect match for me and I can’t imagine not having her with us. She is so intelligent and funny. I’d like to thank Lions Assistance Dogs for their amazing work, what they do is life changing for us.”
Jessica and Jenny show how a Hearing Assistance Dog can transform life, restoring confidence, reducing anxiety, and bringing joy to everyday moments.
Thank you to Jessica and Jenny for sharing their story for National Hearing Dog Day.
