A British woman said that a stroke gave her an Italian accent and the ability to speak Italian, even though she had never visited the country.
Althea Brayden’s husband, 58, found her unconscious one evening after suffering a stroke caused by a carotid web, a mass in the neck that can cut off blood flow to the brain.
Mr Bryden said his wife “squinted her eyes and couldn’t speak” and said he immediately called an ambulance.
The woman remained in the hospital for 9 days.
On July 30, Ms. Althea was returned to hospital for surgery to remove the carotid artery membrane, and after 3 months of being unable to speak, she woke up with an Italian accent and able to pronounce words in Italian.
Althea is believed to suffer from foreign accent syndrome, a rare medical condition that makes a person’s speech sound like they speak with a foreign accent, even if they don’t have one.
“I spent three months after my stroke thinking I would never be able to speak again,” Ms. Althea said. “I felt like I was just a shell of the person I once was.”
She added: “After the carotid artery bypass surgery, a nurse came to my hospital bed for a routine check-up, and suddenly, she started speaking. She seemed just as shocked as I was. “First, I couldn’t believe it was me talking, but I didn’t recognize my voice either.”
She said that doctors and hospital staff gathered around her bed to hear her speak.
She added: “The more I spoke, the more confused we all became. They asked me if I spoke with an Italian accent before my stroke and they were telling me that I had a strong accent. In the midst of all this, I was very confused.”
She added: “As the days passed, it became clear that I had a strong Italian accent and I had no control over the sound I was making when speaking.”
“To my surprise, I am also able to speak Italian, which is a language I have never learned or spoken before,” she said, adding, “Without realizing it, I will say an Italian word in the middle of the conversation, which is the Italian word for what I am trying to say in English.” “I have no idea I’m about to do this, my mind turns the English word into Italian.”
Ms. Althea went on to say that the doctors and nurses viewed it as a “medical miracle” as none of them had ever seen Foreign Accent Syndrome before, and this made her realize how rare this condition was.