By John Prince
For Nicky Dixon, a guide dog is not a luxury, it is her independence, her safety and her dignity. And on one snowy winter day, the reason her son Sam survived a medical episode as a baby.
Through her adult life, Nicky, from Hornsea, who has been blind since birth, has worked, raised a family and navigated a world she says is built for sighted people, with the help of five guide dogs.
“A guide dog is the difference between washing everything by hand and having a washing machine,” she said. “You can manage with a white stick. It has lots of advantages because obviously there is no maintenance. You don’t have to feed it, or clear up after it.
“But a white stick won’t take you round obstacles, it just tells you you’ve crashed into one. A dog can.”
Her current dog Marley – who it’s thought is named after reggae singer Bob – arrived in 2020 just before the first Covid lockdown. But it was Simba, her third dog, who proved just how vital these animals can be.
One year, deep snow brought East Yorkshire to a standstill. The roads had vanished in a whiteout, people were being advised not to drive and the buses had stopped.
Nicky’s baby son Sam was ill with a chest infection, and her husband David was at work.
Nicky said: “I just had to get him to the doctor. They offered a home visit, but not for hours. I knew he needed antibiotics.”
Exhausted after a sleepless night, she harnessed Simba. “I said, ‘Simba, I’m sorry, we’ve got to go, he’s really poorly.’ So he just put his head on me – like, ‘Come on, Mum, we’ll be all right.’”
Simba guided her and Sam through the snow to the surgery, then to the chemist, where staff gave Sam his first dose of antibiotics. On the way home, the world disappeared again.
“There was no traffic or pavements. I couldn’t tell where we were because everything had changed.”
Simba could.
“He suddenly turned left and I thought, where’s he going? Then he stopped. I put my hand out and we were at our front door. He’d found home in all that chaos.
“If I hadn’t got Sam to the doctor, I’m pretty sure I’d have had to call 999. It could have been very serious.”
Simba later became runner-up for Guide Dog of the Year, but not long after that he developed cancer. Nicky still remembers the moment he told her, in his own way, that his time had come.
“He kept going outside in the rain and lying on the grass. He knew. And I felt so guilty because he’d done so much for our family. But we gave him the best end to life we could.
“I could never thank him enough for what he did.”
Guide dogs have shaped every part of Nicky’s life, including her 16-year career as a modern languages teacher, and now as a Hornsea town councillor.
“When I used to do the school run, it was absolutely vital I had a dog because the playground was complete mayhem with parents and pushchairs and all sorts of things. So having a dog was really important for me.
“When I’m walking down the street, I really feel like could conquer the world. A dog is also a great icebreaker, because most people either have a dog or know someone who has. You can start up a conversation with almost anybody about dogs. You can’t with a white stick.
“They are a companion and you know they’re there. They can’t talk to you, but you can talk to them. And they don’t answer back.”
Nicky is now the Hull and District branch coordinator for Guide Dogs, which is one of the UK’s leading sight loss charities.
“When I was teaching, I didn’t have the time. Teaching is full-on for anyone. For a blind person, it’s full-on, full-time. But now I can give back.”
Nicky and her friends and colleagues recently held a fundraising morning at Hornsea’s St Nicholas Parish Hall and a cake sale, raising £556.
The cost of supporting a guide dog from puppyhood to retirement is around £40,000. From when they start training to being put with an owner, it’s around £13,000.
“That’s why support is vital,” Nicky added. “A guide dog should be given because someone needs one, not because they can afford one. Guide Dogs has given me the opportunity to have a career, to have a son and to be a mum and do things that most people perhaps would take for granted.”
For more information go to guidedogs.org.uk.