Healthcare failed my dad and stole our precious time together
When healthcare fails, deaf people pay the price. Families are left traumatised. Lives are cut short.
Supporter Kate Boddy shares how her last Christmas with her dad – a deaf British Sign Language (BSL) user – was stolen by barriers that should never have been there.
I want to tell you my dad’s story. It’s one of struggle, silence and being brutally shut out of the healthcare he desperately needed. It’s a story no family should have to live through.
This Christmas, will you give and help provide life-saving support through Contact RNID? Your gift will also help create a future where deaf people can access healthcare without fear, confusion or delay.
When cancer came
My dad loved this time of year. He wore terrible Christmas jumpers with pride and insisted on eating all the Christmas pudding. He was our anchor and our joy.
But when cancer came into his life, and into ours, him being shut out as a deaf British Sign Language (BSL) user changed everything.
My dad was terrified, but when his results came back, doctors didn’t arrange for an interpreter.
Instead, they turned to me – heavily pregnant at the time – and asked me to tell him he had cancer.
Can you imagine that moment? Having to put your emotions aside and say those words to your own father. Can you imagine your child being put in that position?
A daughter forced to translate
From that moment I was no longer just his daughter. At appointments, during treatment, even while breastfeeding my newborn, I was interpreting life-and-death information.
Multiple healthcare providers failed to provide my dad with professional communication support and as a result, his diagnosis and treatment were delayed.
He disengaged with his care and withdrew from the world. He even withdrew from me.
It was traumatising. For him. For me. For our whole family.
What we lost
When the end came in 2023, I felt like I had already lost so much of him. Cancer took his life. But the failure to provide access to healthcare that treated him with the dignity he deserved stole our precious time together.
I never got to have a proper goodbye.
Help families like Kate’s this Christmas
Your support will mean deaf people can get trusted support today and help us make sure interpreters are provided as standard at every appointment in the future.
How we help people like Kate
Support today: Contact RNID
Right now, deaf people in crisis can turn to Contact RNID for clear, accessible information. Whether by phone, email, live chat or British Sign Language video call, people can finally get the answers they need in the way that works for them.
Our trained advisors provide free, trusted guidance on navigating healthcare, understanding rights, and finding urgent help. For people in Kate’s situation, and others like it, this service is a lifeline.
System change: fighting to remove barriers
Alongside this front-line support, we’re campaigning to make sure healthcare works for deaf people in the future. Here’s how your gift could make a difference:
We believe no one should be left without support today, and no one should face health barriers tomorrow.
That’s why this Christmas, we’re asking for a gift that will help provide urgent support through Contact RNID right now – and fuel our fight for lasting change so that deaf people are never ignored again. This means your gift will have double the impact.
