Andrea Ogier's tale is set to get tongues wagging Andrea Ogier with her Australian terrier, Rocky. Picture: CALUM ROBERTSON Source: adelaidenow ANDREA Ogier has finally found her voice. The retired nurse, 68, was born with a cleft palate and deformity which left her without the roof of her mouth and she could not speak clearly. But it was not until she was 14 when she tripped over a dog in the schoolyard while running away from bullies that she was able to get help. "I broke my arm and the doctor in casualty was more interested in why I couldn't speak and be understood, rather than treating my arm," Mrs Ogier, of Northgate, said. That doctor told her a plastic surgeon, Dr Don Robinson, was coming to the Royal Adelaide Hospital to operate for the first time. She was his first patient. It took four years of therapy and intensive learning before Mrs Ogier's speech was understood and now she has told her story in a book, Finding My Voice, to be launched at the Hackney Hotel tomorrow. "In the 1940s, when I was a child, you were shunned if you were not normal," she said. It's a proud outcome for a girl who was born with a severe deformity and who overcame the obstacles. All the good things that have happened to me make up for all of the bad things that happened all those years ago. Her message to others facing adversity is simple: "Don't give up. Have patience with people who are different or who have a disability. Part proceeds from the sale of her book will go to Craniofacial Australia. Chief executive Bob Snewin said Mrs Ogier's was "a remarkable story of courage."