Emma

Having been stuck in a blip uninspiring seminar room for a course all day I thought I'd have a quick wander through the Christmas lights of Leeds before catching the train home. I didn't have the heart to ignore this girl when she got my attention, even though she was always going to be asking for money at the end. She was volunteering for NDCS, the National Deaf Children's Society, a charity close to her heart as she is 60% deaf and had support from them as a child after rebelling against her speech therapy. It worked as Emma's speech is fantastic now, but we did have a good chat about the frustrations of deafness. I had hearing problems as a child, and have had my adenoids removed twice. Then a few months after my son was born I became unilaterally completely deaf overnight due to a vascular abnormality. I had just asked Emma if she would mind having her picture taken, when we we're interrupted by a slightly drunk man, trying to impersonate Elvis, whilst trying to humour us by pretending to speak a foreign language.