Health SOS
The best health advice for you and your family
Mum said my quiet, husky voice made me unique, but was there something causing it?
From behind me in the classroom, I heard whispering.
‘She should just speak louder,’ a classmate said.
‘Why does her voice sound like that?’ another added.
I’d been trying to answer a question but as usual, my quiet, husky voice had let me down.
It had been like that for as long as I could remember.
Mum said: ‘It makes you unique.’
But I hated sounding different, and then there were the nasty comments — and not just at school.
An older male relative had recently nicknamed me Donkey.
At 15, I went for speech therapy. But after trying various things, the therapist said: ‘There’s more going on here. I’m referring you to a specialist.’
Weeks later, I had a microscopic camera inserted into my nose and down my throat to examine my vocal cords.
Afterwards, the doctor said: ‘Your left vocal cord is paralysed.’
He offered surgery to move the paralysed cord closer to the other one, making it easier for them to vibrate together and produce a stronger sound.
‘So I’d sound completely different?’ I asked.
He nodded, and although I felt relieved to know why I sounded different, I realised it was part of my identity. So I decided against surgery. Instead, I continued with speech therapy, learning to use my voice in the best way. I’ve since become an award-winning voiceover artist, with my unique voice featured in video games such as Wa
