Paul's first words: 'I want to see Pasquale'

A man who has been unable to speak for almost 50 years has uttered his first words: ‘I want to see Joe Pasquale.’

Paul Hibbard is 47 years old and never been able to talk because of cerebral palsy.

But he was given a Steven Hawking-style voice generator, then stunned staff at his Warwickshire care home by asking to see the squeaky-voiced comic.

Carer Neil Walker said: ‘We had set the system up for Paul and asked him to type out a sonnet, but he didn’t want to do that. We were racking our brains for something else to copy, when out of the blue Paul typed in the words “I want to go and see Joe Pasquale at the Spa Centre”.

‘When the words spoke out loud, all the staff cheered.’

Paul later told his local newspaper: ‘Joe Pasquale is a real genuine person and has a fantastic personality.

‘I went to see him last year. He makes me laugh so much he makes me feel warm and good inside. He is not dirty or rude like some comedians.’

He got his dream on Wednesday night, when he made the trip from Newlands Care Home in Kenilworth to see Pasquale’s Does He Really Talk Like That? tour in nearby Leamington Spa.

Neil said: ‘It's great to be able to help grant Paul's wish. Had he not had access to the computer he would not have been able to tell us what he wanted to do. Moments like this make it all worthwhile.’

Published: 12 Oct 2005