'I nearly cried when I first heard it' Firm gives Sarah her voice back

A MOTOR neurone disease sufferer who spoke like a ‘robot’ for years can now use her own voice - thanks to a pioneering Bristol technology company.

- Tom BEVAN

Sarah Ezekiel was left without a voice or use of her hands aged just 34 due to the onset of the disease in 2000.

Her two children Aviva, 28, and Eric, 25, grew up only ever able to speak to her through a machine - in a generic and robotic tone.

But 25 years later, after finding an eight second scratchy VHS clip of her speaking while changing Aviva's nappy in the 1990s, AI technology employed by Smartbox has been able to give Sarah back her original voice.

And her children say they now feel truly connected to her after hearing her true accent for the first time.

Sarah, 59, said: “I love having my voice back. I almost cried when I first heard it. It was a very emotional experience.

“I lived in an offline wilderness. The hardest part with living with MND has been losing my speech. I felt like I had lost my identity.

“When I was asked if I had any recordings of my voice before MND, I sent a video where I say one line with people talking in the background. I wasn’t hopeful at all.”

The video clip, which was of very poor quality, was sent to Smartbox, based in Hill Street in Bristol city centre, which began working on trying to create something that could replicate Sarah’s original voice.

Through the use of AI technology, they were eventually able to isolate the voice and to clone it.