Nicola’s triumph over the ‘creeping death’

10:29am Sunday 27th May 2007

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In 2003 Nicola Laking was struggling with a speech impediment so severe she had never had a conversation on the telephone.

But thanks to inspiration from Pop Idol star Gareth Gates, she is coping with it so remarkably she has become a full-time teacher.

“If I didn’t practise I know it would come back. After working on my speech so intensely for three years it would be such a waste. I feel it moving through my body, it is like creeping death and it hits you before you know it.”

Nicola Laking

The 32-year-old was featured in the Croydon Guardian two years ago when she enrolled on the McGuire programme - the same course which famously cured Bradford-born Gates.

She explained: "I have suffered with a stammer all my life. It is so difficult to overcome when you are young as it is such a difficult thing to understand. I was treated for it several times when I was growing up but they always dealt with me like I was stupid so I never followed it through."

After watching Gareth Gates talk about the programme Nicola saw her opportunity and enrolled herself on a course in Bournemouth.

Since then she has seen her stammer transform from what she described as "creeping death" to something which has enabled her to speak to hundreds of people in Hyde Park and teach a roomful of teenagers every day.

In two years Nicola has changed her career to teaching hairdressing and now has a long-term boyfriend Chris, who she lives with.

She added: "At first I think Chris found it quite strange, he has always been great about it and said he would care for me whatever. He thinks it's quite cute which I really did not like because it is something that hurts me so much and has in the past made me so angry and frustrated that I found it quite difficult to think of it that way."

Nicola admits she will never be completely cured of her speech impediment and has no idea what causes it. In times of stress and depression she finds she slips back into it very easily.

"I still attend the courses every three months," she said "Last week I could feel my speech going downhill again.

"The McGuire Programme is all about training yourself to pause, breathe, speak and release and I often find that when I'm talking I will just forget what I am saying because I am concentrating on my breathing so much."

Nicola practices the techniques she was taught on the course for at least 20 minutes each day.

She added: "If I didn't practise I know it would come back. After working on my speech so intensely for three years it would be such a waste. I feel it moving through my body, it is like creeping death and it hits you before you know it."

Nicola is hoping to become a tutor on the programme but for now is concentrating on building her confidence and her life without the pressure of a continuous impediment.

She added: "I have made so many friends through this and it really has been a life-changing experience."

For more information about the McGuire programme and to find out about support in the Croydon area, call Matt Wilton on 01458 210890.