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American Woman Woke Up With British Accent After Being Knocked Out

American Woman Woke Up With British Accent After Being Knocked Out

Doctors have diagnosed her with a rare condition called foreign accent syndrome

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A US woman who was knocked out by an intruder woke up with a completely different accent.

The bizarre phenomenon, known as foreign accent syndrome, is pretty rare with doctors only diagnosing about 100 cases in the last century.


Ashley Bosma, 28, was home alone when an intruder broke in and attacked her last October. She was rushed to hospital and treated for a head injury before being sent home, but just one month later she woke up to find she'd lost her American accent and was now speaking with a British-sounding one.

She said: "I have never been to the UK or even anywhere near it so it is a real mystery how this has happened.

"I was a fan of Harry Potter when I was young but not really anything linked to Britain other than that. If anything, I was more impressed by the French accent growing up.

"The only exposure I have had was a former work colleague who was a Brit and I loved his accent but I haven't spoken to him for about three years.

"My friends and family think it is really funny. They quote lines from Monty Python and even Mrs Doubtfire at me and finish off conversations with 'Cheerio' or some other British mannerisms."

Ashely, who is training to be a paramedic, said that she now suffers with social anxiety because people have accused her of faking it.

StoryTrender

She continued: "At first I couldn't understand what was happening and my lips and jaw were hurting and I spoke with the same dialect but didn't sound like my normal self.

"My husband was there to see it as I had a meeting at home with a Russian fitness trainer and overheard me and he actually thought I was trying to mock the person I was with.

"People think it's fake, that it's something not real - I don't like to record myself much because I sound funny.

"Whenever me and my husband go out, someone will always ask about where I'm from and then we have to explain it all - my husband has perfected his explanation."

Ashley has been living with the accent, which flips between British, Australian and South African, since October. She says after initially leaving hospital following the attack, she lost consciousness and was re-admitted.

She was once again sent home where she slept 'all day and all night' before waking up with the new accent. She was eventually diagnosed with foreign accent syndrome.

StoryTrender

"You don't have to be exposed to the accent for you to develop it and people with an American accent often sound like they're a cross between American and British English - it's actually called a Transatlantic accent," she said.

"People think it's fake, that it's something not real - which is really frustrating. I don't like to record myself much because I sounds funny to myself.

"I have two pet corgis and I had someone once ask me, 'Do you have corgis because they're the Queen's favourite?' I don't think I even answered him."

Ashely is now hoping to raise awareness of the condition and is attempting to reach out to others who are living with it.

Featured Image Credit: StoryTrender

Topics: Interesting, Weird