A stroke has left a British woman with an Italian accent and the ability to speak the language, despite never having visited the country.
Althia Bryden’s husband found her unconscious one summer evening and unable to speak. So he immediately called an ambulance. The 58-year-old remained in hospital for nine days after doctors discovered she had suffered a stroke caused by a carotid artery, which can cut off blood flow to the brain.
After surgery to remove it – and after three months of being unable to speak – she woke up with an Italian accent and the ability to use rudimentary words in the language.
“I spent three months after my stroke thinking I would never be able to speak again,” the north London grandmother told SWNS News. “I felt like a shell of the person I once was.”
“After my carotid surgery, a nurse came to my hospital bed to do a routine check-up, and suddenly I started talking. She looked as shocked as I was.
“I remember thinking ‘who is that talking?’
“First, I couldn’t believe it was me speaking, but I also didn’t recognize the sound of my voice. »
Doctors began to gather at Althia’s bedside to hear her speak.
“The more I talked, the more confused we all became.
“It was clear that I had a strong Italian accent and had no control over the sound I made when I spoke.”
To her surprise, she was also able to speak Italian, a language she says she had never learned or spoken before.
“Without realizing it, I will say an Italian word in the middle of a 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 brain is just converting the English word to Italian.
Doctors diagnosed Althia with “foreign accent syndrome,” a rare condition that makes a person’s speech sound like it has a foreign accent, even if they haven’t acquired it.
The term was first coined in 1982 by HA Whitaker, who explained that the disease is “clearly linked to damage to the central nervous system”. Although rare, more than 100 cases have been reported in the medical literature.
Given the rare nature of this disease, Althia has struggled because she has no one she can relate to.
“Doctors and nurses see me as a medical marvel; none of the therapists or medical staff have encountered Foreign Accent Syndrome (also known as FAS) during their careers.
“I’m so grateful to be alive after my stroke and able to communicate after living without speaking for three months, but living with FAS is really difficult.
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“I wake up almost every morning hoping for my old voice to come back. I don’t feel like myself with this foreign accent. I even hear the accent in my head when I think. It’s such a strange feeling.
“I do my best to stay positive and optimistic (and) I remind myself that I am still here today and that I have my husband, my two sons and their beautiful families with me.”
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With the support of the Stroke Association and its support groups, she met many other stroke survivors locally.
“It’s so helpful to share our lived experiences. Although every stroke is different, there is always something that brings two stroke survivors together.
But she has yet to meet anyone suffering from foreign accent syndrome and she would like to be able to say “Arrivederci” with an accent.
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