A lay preacher who lost his voice through cancer and feared he might never speak again is to preach once more.

Malcolm Skidmore, 68, a former auctioneer of Lee Lane, Cottingley, gave his first sermon aged 14 to a congregation of six locals and 35 mainly uncomprehending German prisoners of war in a tiny village near Bedale.

But after being diagnosed with laryngeal cancer two years ago, he had to come to terms with having his voicebox removed.

A self-proclaimed chatterbox, the loss hit him hard and he was frustrated at being able to communicate only through the written word.

But he has since been fitted with a special valve in his neck which allows him to talk by pressing it continuously and excluding all the air.

And on Sunday, March 26 at 10.30am, he will give the sermon at Cottingley Town Hall, his local church which he has attended for several years.

He said: "It's grand - it's quite a miracle. I had to have two operations because the first one didn't work. An incision was made in my throat for this very small valve - about a quarter-of-an-inch long - to be put in.

"I remember the first time it worked. It was nearly midnight and I had been practising with it. I went upstairs to tell my wife. I said: 'Mary, I can talk to you again'. I don't think she could believe it. We had not communicated verbally for three months.

"It was marvellous. It was like a blind man being able to see again. I tell everybody I have got a voice like a grunting pig with laryngitis."

Graham Buckley, a consultant head and neck surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary, said: "Your voicebox is only a small component of speech. Most of the sound comes from movement of the teeth, lips and so forth.''

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