Why I didn’t make a sound for 12 years
How bad can it be losing your voice? Marie became mute at 13. She was ostracised, told she was cursed and put in a psychiatric unit. But years later something incredible happened.
Marie McCreadie moved to Australia from the UK as a young girl in the 1970s. It was the start of a new adventure for the whole family, but then one day when Marie was 13 she lost her voice, leaving her unable to make a sound for over a decade. Marie was ostracised, told she was cursed, and was put in a psychiatric unit. Then, in her twenties she discovered the surprising cause of her condition. This episode was first broadcast on 5th October 2019.
Marie has written a book about her life without speech it's called Voiceless.
Presenter: Andrea Kennedy
Producer: Tom Harding Assinder
Picture: Marie McCreadie as a young teenager
Credit: Marie McCreadie
Last on
Broadcasts
- Sat 10 Oct 202021:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 11 Oct 202008:32GMTBBC World Service
- Sun 11 Oct 202022:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Mon 12 Oct 202000:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
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