Lib Dem MP Anna Sabine reports voice recovery after surgical nerve damage
Liberal Democrat MP Anna Sabine says her voice has largely recovered months after a thyroid operation left her with vocal cord paralysis, having feared the damage might be permanent.
BBC Politics
The Liberal Democrat MP for Frome and East Somerset, Anna Sabine, has revealed signs of significant recovery months after losing much of her voice following surgery. The 46-year-old underwent a thyroid operation in June that cut one of the nerves to her vocal cords, leaving her with a condition known as vocal cord paralysis.
Sabine said she first realised something was wrong when she woke up in hospital in Bath after the operation. She had been warned her throat might feel strange, but the next morning her surgeon told her a mistake had been made and permanent damage had been caused. At that point she could speak only in a whisper.
The loss of her voice left her feeling shocked and lonely, she said. When Parliament returned after the summer recess in September, she had to use a microphone to take part in debates and initially wanted to hide rather than speak in the chamber, because she could not be sure what would come out when she stood up.
"Your voice is a really key point of who you are, whether you are an MP or not," Sabine said. She described the experience of speaking publicly as feeling extremely exposing, though she said no one in Parliament made her feel embarrassed.
She said messages from members of the public, many of whom contacted her after she spoke about her condition on radio and television, inspired her to take part in debates. "I can't now hide away, so I kind of felt inspired by them really to stand up in the chamber," she said.
A few weeks ago, during the recess, Sabine said she woke to find her voice had regained much of its natural strength, with her family noticing the difference. While friends have told her she does not sound quite as she used to, and she says her voice still feels wobbly, she said it is now the closest to how it was before the surgery and is "broadly speaking, back to where it should be".
Sabine added that she plans to campaign for greater access to therapy for adults. The BBC report in which she discussed her recovery was published under the headline "MP's shock and sadness at losing voice after surgery".