Hi there, 

Thankyou so much for visiting my JustGiving page. First of all, My name is Toni, and i'm a 22 year old woman. I live in the north west of england. 

I am raising money for "Hearing Dogs for Deaf people" by holding a sponsered "Deaf Day", During which I will not be allowed to rely on my hearing for anything, And will only be communicating using sign language and lip reading - I will be wearing earphones playing some sort of white noise to block out day to day sounds such as people talking etc. 

The reason i have chosen this charity is because of my 3 year old daughter. Her name is Lily, She was born profoundly deaf. She is absolutely amazing. She was lucky enough to be able to have Cochlear Implants - Although this is not something that work 24/7 as she has to take them off at night time, bath time etc. Other Deaf people choose not to, or are not able to due to different medical reasons, or eligibility, have Cochlear Implants. 

Hearing dogs make excellent companions and alert a Deaf person to a sound or danger such as a fire - This is life saving stuff here! - Or a burglar - And so few people actually know about these amazing animals and the joy and improvement they can bring to peoples lives. 

So please donate today, I will be posting the video of my 'Deaf day' sometime in february. Meanwhile, Please feel free to browse my videos and pictures, and read about our experience below. Thankyou!

------------------------------LILY ROSE--------------------------------------

My lovely daughter, Lily Rose Burnett, Was born on the 11th of April 2009. She was 6 weeks premature and weighed 4lb 9. While we were in hospital, Doctors performed a neonatal hearing screening, which showed a negative reading. I asked the doctor what this meant and was told that it was most likely just because she was small, That the device wasn't able to get an accurate reading, And that they would send me an appointment in a few months time.

As the months passed by I didn't really think much of it. I'd never had a baby before, or much to do with babies - I saw nothing wrong. There were also a few timesi remember, That must have been just coincidence, That i would be singing to her and she would laugh - She must have been laughing at my expression or something i guess.

When she got to around 8 months a few things happened. A friend mentioned that she thought she wasn't hearing noise, as she had been trying to get her attention, And her Dad also mentioned concerns, as did his parents. I still didn't think it was right though - I was sure she was responding to noise, But like i said, It was obviously just a coincidence, Or maybe i was in denial. 

I spoke to my health visitor and made an appointment with my local audiology department, And took her along for a hearing test. At the end the doctor told me her hearing wasn't too bad, she just had problems with some low tones, But then later on sent results on paper to my health visitor detailing that she had a serious loss in both ears. At the same time, Her Dad had taken her to his local audiology department who also confirmed a serious loss. 

I was quite upset. I felt like i had failed on two things - One i hadn't spotted it myself. I'm her mother. I'm supposed to know these things, Even if the doctors made some mistakes in their information, right? And two, I felt i must have caused it. 

We began having signing lessons, and Lily was fitted with hearing aids to see if they would make a difference. They didn't, But they were good practise for her having something on her ears, so they did have some benefit for later. 

Lily progressed amazingly with her sign language. She picked it up quickly and within a few weeks we were able to communicate simple things, little things that made things a lot easier - Like telling her she had to wait when she wanted to get out of her car seat. She soon had a large vocabulary - I think at last count it was around 300 words. She is able to use sentences, She describes things very well, She also is quite good at improvising if you don't understand a sign and will change things around to get her message across. 

We started the process for securing funding for Cochlear implants, And Lily under went all the tests to ensure she met the criteria, and that the operation and equipment would most likely be successful for her. 

The day of her operation came and i don't think i've ever been so scared. Her Dad took her down. And then we waited. I went to walk around manchester while they did it. They were quicker than we expected, they came for us about half an hour after i got back. Her Dad went in to recovery to fetch her as only one of us could, and he thought it would be less confusing for her as he was the one who left her there.

I sat in the corridor and pulled my hair out. Literally.

Her head was all wrapped in bandages and i remember crying, And i think her Dad cried too. I remember him giving me a hug so i must have looked a right sad case, And the doctors looked like they weren't sure what to do with us as we were stood in the middle of the corridor at this point. 

She was taken for X-rays the next day, Which i wasn't allowed in the room for as i was pregnant (I never did thank her Dad for pointing out that i should be waiting outside!). They confirmed that the operation had been successfull and she was discharged.

She recovered well and a month later we went back for the switch on! It was an emotional day all round. I cried a lot. Thankfully some one (Lily's Gran i think) had the sense to bring tissues! The turn on went well - There was no screaming or crying, She just took it in her stride and as usual, amazed us all. 

Within a few days she was starting to sound letters like 'P', And started trying to say words like 'Purple'. She hadn't spokeb before this. She was 2 and a half at this point. I remember the first time she said Mummy and i cried i lot. I had waited a long time for that, But it was worth it. 

She has had speech therapy sessions since, And still does. The work that the hospital and audiology team has put in has been amazing. They have well and truly been an amazing support. Lily's Dad and I are not together and they have even provided support when personal problems have arissen in relation to Lily. I cannot put into words how i feel about these people. They are absolute miracle workers. 

She is 3 now - Four in april, and she has come on amazingly. She talks so much. She lip reads too. I could not be more proud of her. She has coped so well, and consistently exceeds everyones expectations. She is my little star.