"Elroy gives me a reason to get up in the morning"

When ex-Navy veteran, Deryck, lost his wife during the pandemic, he was plunged into a very dark and lonely place. The day before what would have been their 46^th wedding anniversary, he met his hearing dog, Elroy. Now, Deryck’s best friend is always there for him.

My hearing loss is caused by otosclerosis. I’ve had several operations but now, if I don’t have my hearing aids in, I can’t hear anything at all.

In 1968, I joined HMS Raleigh in Plymouth and spent seven years in the Royal Navy. I was a Radar Plotter and I’m sure this contributed to my hearing loss. I wore a headset for hours and was often near firing guns.

After the Navy, I became a long-distance lorry driver. The shipments were worth thousands and if you arrived late, they sometimes wouldn’t let you in. I slept with four alarm clocks in my cab to be sure of waking up after making stops. But I worried so much about oversleeping that I hardly slept at all. 

Eventually, I was signed off due to stress. My wife, Sandra, also had a series of strokes and an aneurysm.  

I stopped working, we sold our house and bought a motor home, and I basically became her carer. Sandra then became poorly with pain in her lower abdomen. One day in 2020, I took her to hospital and I was shocked when they said they thought she had cancer.  

Later that same day, she went to lie down and after I had taken her a drink, I dozed off in the chair. When I returned to the bedroom, only six hours after leaving the hospital, she’d passed away. I was racked with guilt afterwards that she might’ve cried out to me that evening and I hadn’t heard her.  

I was extremely upset when I called the emergency services that night – it really brought home to me what being deaf meant. They asked me a lot of questions I couldn’t hear. My struggles continued because my wife’s funeral had to be arranged by phone due to the COVID lockdown. 

I went to a very dark place after losing Sandra. I realised how much I’d relied on her; she had been my hearing aids, relaying what people were saying and providing context. Suddenly, I was completely on my own, in the middle of a pandemic, unable to go out.  

Between lockdown Christmas and Easter, I didn’t see a single person. I began to wonder what the point was in going on.

I’ll be honest, there were a few times where I thought about taking some tablets from the cupboard.

I remembered seeing someone in town with a hearing dog, so that July I applied. On August 23^rd 2021, the day before what would have been my 46^th wedding anniversary, Elroy arrived.

Elroy gives me a reason to get up in the morning. When I’m feeling down, he seems to know because he comes and sits with me. I still have days when I don’t see or speak to anyone. But Elroy is always there. He’s my best friend. Soon, I’m taking him to a reunion for the Royal Navy crew I sailed with. 

The fact Elroy might one day save my life became evident soon after he arrived. I was frying a steak on the hob and Elroy kept nudging me and dropping to the ground. He was telling me the smoke alarm was going off, but I hadn’t heard it at all. 

We have our own routine. At bedtime, I hide treats round the house. I then say ‘Go!’ and he hunts all round the house for them! On Sundays, we visit a café on the front in Eastbourne. I have a coffee and a Danish pastry and Elroy has a special doggy treat. He’s in ecstasy! He also loves blackberries and will pick them off the bushes one at a time.

There are thousands of deaf people out there who are on their own. Deafness is an invisible disability and Elroy reminds people that I’m deaf. Before, I hardly knew anyone in my neighbourhood. Now, everyone talks to me. They all love him and I couldn’t be without him.

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