Saved by Nellie

by Ros Barber (Brighton)

I can wrestle a six foot man to the ground, cuff him, and have him standing within two minutes. For years I was head bouncer at the Event, but nightclub volumes and turning up security earpieces did for my hearing. When my partner left, I got Nellie.

I was staying with the kids in a B&B. In the small hours, Nellie jumped on my back. The dog was young; I thought she was mucking about and pushed her off. She jumped up again; I pushed her off again, grumpily. Feeling bad, I put out my hand to pat her.

But Nellie wasn’t there. Where was she? In the dark I could just make her out, flat on the floor in the emergency position - which hearing dogs adopt when a fire alarm goes off. She was practically digging a hole to Australia. I turned on the light.

There was a man there. ‘You’re in my room’, he said. ‘You’ve made a mistake,’ I replied, ‘you’d better leave.’ ‘You’re in my room,’ he repeated. I ran at him. Surprised, he staggered back; I shut the door. People don’t realise Nellie saved his life.

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What Ros Barber says about Saved by Nellie:

Gill Houghton and her hearing dog Nellie have been together for a couple of years now. Nellie was awarded Heroic Hearing Dog of the Year 2008 for the story given here, but as Gill points out, the papers tended to go for the “poor defenceless deaf woman” angle, not realising that it was the man who was probably in more danger, had he surprised Gill while she was asleep! Gill and I worked at the Event nightclub together many years ago and I decided to track her down because she always had the best stories, even then.