British woman starts speaking in Italian accent after suffering a stroke and says she 'feels like a clown'

20 December 2024, 14:12 | Updated: 20 December 2024, 14:16

Stroke victim started speaking with Italian accent

A British woman has begun speaking in an Italian accent after suffering a stroke.

Althia Bryden, 58, has told of how she feels she has lost her identity after beginning speaking in the new accent after her stroke in May.

The retired customer service adviser was diagnosed with aphasia after the stroke, which means that the sufferer has difficulty with their speech or language.

After undergoing surgery to remove a blockage to her brain, she discovered she had foreign accent syndrome (FAS).

This is an extremely rare condition - with only around 100 documented cases.

Ms Bryden, a mother of two from north London, said she even sometimes uses Italian words like 'mamma mia' and 'si' in everyday conversations.

"Even my laugh is not the same. I'm not me, it's like someone is impersonating me," she said.

"I feel like a clown with an upside-down smile that people are watching perform.

"They are laughing, but I still have an upside-down smile.

"It's very sad — everything is different, even my body language is different.

"People aren't meeting the original me, I don't know who I am."

Ms Bryden stayed in hospital for nine days and came back to remove the blockage, a carotid web.

After coming round, she began speaking with the accent, shocking the nurse looking after.

"I remember thinking, 'Who is that talking?'," she said.

"I couldn't believe it was me talking, but I also didn't recognise the sound of my voice.

"The nurse rushed to get colleagues round to my bed. No one could believe I was talking after so long.

'But the more I spoke, the more confused we all became. They asked me if I had an Italian accent before my stroke and were telling me I had a strong accent."

"Doctors and nurses saw me as a bit of a medical marvel — none of the nurses, doctors, therapists or surgeons had dealt with FAS in their whole careers.

"This is when I realised just how rare this condition is. I wish more people knew about it."

Ms Bryden said her parents were from Jamaica but she has lived in London her entire life.

She is working with the Stroke Association after suffering her medical incident, as well as with speech therapists.

Juliet Bouverie OBE, chief executive of the Stroke Association, said: "Every day in the UK over 240 people wake up to the catastrophic impact of a stroke, which can leave survivors unable to move, see, speak, or even swallow.

"It's a traumatic, life-changing event that robs survivors and their families of the life they knew. Recovery for a stroke survivor is a hard slog of gruelling and repetitive therapy.

"But with strength, determination and the right support, recovery is possible. We support stroke survivors and their families to find the strength they need to find their way back to life."