US mom wakes up from surgery with British accent
An American woman from Texas acquired a flawless British accent after she woke up from a jaw surgery.
CBS Houston reported that Lisa Alamia, who had an uncommon neurological disorder, underwent a jaw surgery six months ago to correct an overbite. After the surgery, she woke up with a nerve condition known as foreign accent syndrome.
Many people from her town in Rosenberg, Texas, thought she was a stranger after they heard her talk. When Alamia’s daughter pointed out her new accent, she thought her daughter was kidding. “But then she showed me that the doctor diagnosed me with foreign accent syndrome. Then I was like, ‘Oh, Lord,'” she told CBS Houston.
She underwent a series of tests such as letting her modulate tongue twisters, but her homegrown Texan accent was never recaptured. With the support of friends and relatives, Alamia is learning to savor her British accent but hopes to undergo speech therapy soon.
“My daughter laughs at the way I say ‘tamales.’ I used to be able to say it like a real Hispanic girl. Now, I cannot,” she told Houston-based news outlet KHOU 11 News.
According to a report from The Daily Mail, foreign accent syndrome usually results from brain damage due to stroke or traumatic brain injury. Less than 100 people around the world suffer from this syndrome. Until now, medical experts have yet to determine its specific causes.
Other foreign accent syndrome cases include an American woman who spoke with a Scottish accent in 2015 and a British woman who ended up with a jaunty Chinese accent a few years ago. Surprisingly, British pop sensation George Michael suffered from the same disorder when he began to speak with a “west country accent” following a battle with pneumonia in 2012. Gianna Francesca Catolico
