A PROMISING stage actor has used crowdfunding to help pay for medical treatment to restore his voice.
Lewis Grant, from Inverness, turned down his dream job playing the lead role in a musical because of the persistent frog in his throat.
He said he waited more than a year for treatment on the NHS only to be told the procedure was still not available.
When he visited a private clinic he learned about an implant, known as the LINX System, which could be fitted to help control the reflux causing his croak.
But he needed £8,000 to pay for the treatment, so the 27-year-old turned to a crowdfunding website which allows people to raise money for any project. Within 30 days he had hit his target of collecting £2,000 towards the bill.
He said: "I was truly humbled by the response. Another actor contacted me as he had some health issues and my story resonated with him. After he shared my page, more and more donations came flooding in. My phone was notifying me of them every five minutes. It was amazing, and I cannot express my gratitude enough. These people have changed my life.”
Mr Grant has wanted to perform in musicals since childhood. He attended the Dance School of Scotland in Glasgow before securing a scholarship for Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick. In his final year he was given the part of Romeo in a world premiere.
However, his voice was beginning to struggle. He was diagnosed with gastro-oesophagael reflux disease, when acid leaks from stomach and can climb the oesophagus to the throat.
He tried a range of medication as his career progressed in London's West End, but the problem persisted.
Then he secured the lead role of Bobby in a production of jukebox musical Dreamboats and Petticoats set to tour the UK.
Mr Grant said: "This was my big break and my chance to get out there and do what I have always dreamed of doing from way back."
But as he was celebrating he knew his voice would not cope. He had a retail job at the time and was struggling to talk to customers on the phone. He said: "In my mind I was thinking if I cannot even speak to them, how am I going to hold a 2,000-seater theatre."
Mr Grant revealed the problem to his agent and focused on finding a cure. He says he had been told by the NHS he could be a candidate for a new procedure to prevent reflux, only to learn after 16 months it would not be offered any time soon.
A spokesman for University College London Hospitals said: “The procedure under discussion is not widely available in Europe and not available at UCLH. Our clinicians are still studying the outcomes of this procedure and waiting to see whether it holds the promise that early studies show and will only then carry it out on patients.”
Mr Grant turned to a surgeon on Harley Street who described the LINX System which uses tiny magnetic implants to help the oesophagus close and prevent acid escaping. In March the procedure was carried out. Within weeks Mr Grant said he could make himself heard in a noisy room and now he is back singing and auditioning for parts.
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