Most children love the warm, comforting tones of their grandad’s voice.
But when Tony Plant was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, he realised he would eventually lose all ability to speak to his two beloved granddaughters.
So the grandfather has digitally “banked” his voice so he can still enjoy chatting with Charlotte, 2, and Chloe, 3, even after the disease has silenced him.
The 62-year-old has recorded 1200 sentences to create a computer-generated accent that sounds similar to his own.
It means Plant will still be able to “talk”, using a communication device loaded with his synthetic voice. He recorded the lines - some taken from films and books - and his words were then broken down to create a synthesised voice.
He had begun noticing symptoms of the muscle-wasting condition four years ago.
Plant, from Bolton-by-Bowland in Lancashire, England, was diagnosed in October last year after his condition worsened and he began losing co-ordination.
Commenting on the voice banking procedure, he said: “I will still be able to talk to my grandchildren. They will be able to recognise it as grandad’s voice and not just a robotic voice or a stranger. The important thing for me is that it will make a huge difference to me in the future when my voice has gone and
I can’t get it back.”