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Branded content lets sick farmer say ‘I love you’ to wife for first time in 15 years

An Australian content maker is behind a Valentine’s Day branded content offering about a farmer living with ALS being given the ability to say ‘I love you’ to his wife for the first time in 15 years.

Don’s Voice is a heart-warming look at the true story of Don and Lorraine Moir, a farming family from rural Canada debilitated by ALS.

Don’s Voice is a heart-warming look at the true story of Don and Lorraine Moir, a farming family from rural Canada debilitated by ALS.

Don’s Voice is a heart-warming look at the true story of Don and Lorraine Moir, a farming family from rural Canada debilitated by ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the condition which galvanised thousands to undergo Ice Bucket Challenges last year.

Australian Elliot Kotek, a co-founder of Californian-based Not Impossible, the media and technology organisation behind Don’s Voice, said he and Not Impossible CEO and founder Mick Ebeling were involved in the campaign because they firmly believe in technology for the sake of humanity.

Don and Lorraine Moir married in 1989. Six years and three children later, Don was diagnosed with MND/ALS. Week by week, Don lost more of his motor-neurological functions. Then on May 21, 1999, Don Moir was fitted with a ventilator. He hasn’t spoken since.

Don communicates via a letter board: a simple sheet of paper with the alphabet divided into quadrants. Letter-by-letter, word-by-word, the disease has forced Don to communicate silently through others for over a decade.

After hearing Mick Ebeling on the radio, Lorraine contacted Not Impossible to help create a digital solution for her husband.

The Not Impossible team, led by volunteer Javed Gangjee, utilized its know-how, the HP x360 Convertible PC and SpeakYourMind Foundation software to develop a simple interface that replicated Don’s paper letter board.

Don was now able to access a new world of technology and communication for the first time since being diagnosed.Through this simple technology, Don independently wrote a love letter to his wife and was able to audibly say “I Love You, Lorraine” for the first time in 15 years.

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