A woman from Hampshire has described how her life 'changed forever' after she suffered a stroke while on holiday in Turkey and woke up with a Thai accent. Cathy Warren, 29, was celebrating her birthday in Fethiye with friends when she suddenly felt dizzy and lost the ability to walk.
Ms Warren, a financial administrator from Basingstoke, initially blamed a headache on heat stroke. However, after being rushed to hospital, scans revealed she had suffered a stroke. She woke up with the left side of her body paralysed and was stunned to hear her usual Hampshire accent had been replaced by a Thai one.
Doctors diagnosed her with Foreign Accent Syndrome, a rare condition where speech takes on an accent perceived as foreign. The condition is often triggered by a stroke or brain injury. In Ms Warren's case, doctors believe her mother's Thai accent and the fact the stroke occurred abroad may have influenced the change.
Ms Warren spent a month in a Turkish hospital before being allowed to fly home in October 2024. She then underwent two months as an inpatient in the UK followed by three months of rehabilitation, where she had to learn to walk again. She can now walk independently after ten months of recovery.
Despite completing speech therapy, her accent remains unchanged. 'I feel like I lost part of my identity,' she said. Doctors have given no guarantee that her British accent will return.
