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A brave Cornishman has opened up about living with a stammer, how it has affected his life, the mental health issues he has experienced as a result and even the bullying he has received because of it.

With the speech impediment having a negative impact on his day-to-day life, Connor McKay, from Grampound, decided the “only way to get out of it was to hide”. He shut himself away and became “introverted and anxious”.

But then he decided to make a drastic change, the teenager who struggled to buy a bus ticket without being overcome by fear, purchased a plane ticket to Spain, packed his bags and headed off for the adventure of a lifetime completely alone.

That was back in 2015 and ever since Connor, now 21, has been travelling the world, meeting other inspirational people overcoming their own challenges and facing his own problems and fears head on.

He said that his journey had left him with more confidence, incredible memories, an acceptance of his stammer and even an idea for a new project.

Connor hopes to share his experiences in a book to help inspire others suffering from mental health, speech impediments or any other emotional or physical problems.

Although Connor always had a stammer, he said that it was when he was around eight years old that he first noticed it.

He said: “I’ve always had it, but I really started to notice it when I was around eight years old or so, when I was at school.

“I used to get called names and that, it is hard, but what do you do I guess.

“I think what people don’t know is the mental health issues that come with it, I think that has been the hardest thing for me to deal with.

“It made me quite introverted and anxious.”

For someone who described himself as becoming a “shut-in”, it was a huge decision to make for Connor to go travelling alone.

“I had enough of it all,” he said.

“And I thought I need to be in at the deep end and just do it now, I knew that if I didn’t change then, then I never would.

“It was scary, it was very out of my comfort zone, but I would still be that closed in person if I hadn’t done it.

“I used to get anxious just buying a bus ticket so going off and getting a plane ticket to Spain and just going, it was scary.

“I chose Spain because I thought it was an area where I knew that I could run home again if I needed to, it was close enough to home but not too close.

“That was in May 2015, then I’ve been everywhere since then, home and away again.”

Connor said that at one point in his life “meeting new people was almost impossible”, but being in a new country surrounded by people he had never met, forced him into new experiences and has forged a number of new friendships.

He said: “I once met a guy on the train and he lost both his legs. I was asking him about it and he noticed I had a stammer and we connected, I don’t actually connect with anyone like that so it was really nice.

“I have met so many others through travelling that have been through something and meeting them and sharing our different experience, it really has helped a lot.”

Not only has the experience helped to give Connor the confidence to go out, meet new people and try new things, but it has even helped him to accept his stammer, after 21 years.

“I still stammer but now, it’s like, I wouldn’t be me without it,” Connor added.

“I wouldn’t change it now, I think it makes every day a hurdle for sure, but getting over that is quite fulfilling.”

(Image: Connor McKay)

He has even developed a sense of humour around it and said that while having a stammer can be “scary, daunting and embarrassing” it can also be “funny”.

He laughed: “The worst part is that the hardest words for me to get out start with an ‘s’ so whenever anyone asks me what I have it takes me ages to be able to tell them.”

Having turned his life around, Connor now hopes to create a book, pulling together his notes, journal entries and photographs from the trip.

He said: “I’ve been mainly taking pictures because I find it hard to talk to people to tell them what I have been doing, so I just took all of these photographs to send them home, it’s more of a hobby, but art is something that interests me.

“The book will be made up of all my notes and all my highs and lows. I wanted to kind of inspire the kids who are where I used to be, to encourage them to get out in the world.

“I’d like to raise awareness for stammering, I want to get the word out, I just want to be a voice for those who don’t have one.

“If I can help anyone out, just one person, then it will all be worth it.

“I didn’t know if anyone would actually want to read it, but the reaction has been really good actually.”

Connor said that he had been given confirmation by Amazon to be able to self-publish his book by the end of the year.

He now hopes that people will donate to be able to help turn his dream into a reality.

On the website he launched to share his project with the world he wrote: “This project means the absolute world to me. I am ready to begin collating my notes and turning them into a ready-to-print product.

“But I need your help.

“I wouldn’t normally ask for assistance, but self-publishing takes a lot of work, and sadly – money.”

There is a link on the website here, where people can donate.