http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12882148Actress Rachel Shenton plays wannabe glamour model Mitzeee Minniver in the Channel Four teen soap Hollyoaks.
Before joining the programme last year she worked as a volunteer receptionist for a deaf charity in between acting roles.
Rachel learnt British Sign Language aged 16, after her father became profoundly deaf as a result of his treatment for throat cancer.
BBC online's health strand, Cause Celeb, caught up with Rachel at a National Deaf Children's Society weekend, where she expressed her frustration at people's ignorance about deafness.
And she explained how witnessing the impact of her father's sudden hearing loss made her realise just how much we take our senses for granted.
This video is subtitled.
