The Daily Populous Friday December 20th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by gbnews.com and submitted by gbnewsonline

A London grandmother has developed an Italian accent and begun using Italian phrases after recovering from a stroke, despite never having visited Italy or learned the language.

Althia Bryden, 58, from Highbury, London, suffered a stroke in May 2024 that initially left her unable to speak for three months.

The medically retired customer service advisor now finds herself unconsciously speaking with an Italian accent and using phrases like "mamma mia", "bambino" and "si" in her daily conversations.

Bryden, who lives with her husband and full-time carer Winston, 63, is awaiting a formal diagnosis for what doctors believe may be foreign accent syndrome, a rare neurological condition typically associated with brain injury. "I feel like someone is impersonating me," she said. On May 4, 2024, Mr Bryden found his wife unresponsive in bed with her face drooping on one side, prompting him to immediately call an ambulance.

(Stock image) - Gran wakes up with Italian accent despite having never been to Italy or studied language Getty/Rawpixel

At hospital, Mrs Bryden's condition deteriorated as she lost both her ability to speak and sensation in the upper right side of her body. "The only thing I could do was point," she said. "Doctors gave me a notepad, then I realised I couldn't write because I'm right-handed and if someone wrote something down, I could not read it." She was diagnosed with aphasia, a condition affecting language and speech abilities. "I felt like a shell of the person I once was," Mrs Bryden recalled. "I was so alone and isolated, and I remember feeling just totally lost." After a nine-day hospital stay, she was discharged on May 13, 2024. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

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(stock image) - The woman said she'd never been to Italy before GETTY

Doctors later discovered Mrs Bryden's stroke was caused by a carotid web, a rare structure in her neck disrupting blood flow to the brain. She underwent surgery to remove the blockage on August 1, 2024, following readmission to hospital on July 30. During her recovery in intensive care, she suddenly regained her ability to speak when responding to a nurse checking her blood pressure. "Completely out of the blue, I just started speaking," she said. "But the more I spoke, the more confused we all became." To her surprise, she found herself speaking with an Italian accent and unconsciously using Italian words. "I have no idea I'm about to do it – my brain just converts the English word into Italian," Mrs Bryden explained.

Her husband Winston was "speechless" upon hearing her new accent, while one of her sons found the situation so amusing he had to leave the room. Mrs Bryden described feeling deeply affected by the change in her identity, saying: "Even my laugh is not the same... I'm not me." "I feel like a clown with an upside-down smile that people are watching perform," she said. "They are laughing, but I still have an upside-down smile." The grandmother explained how the changes extend beyond her voice. "It's very sad – everything is different, even my body language is different," she said. "People aren't meeting the original me, I don't know who I am."

Sharp_Connection_377 on December 20th, 2024 at 16:59 UTC »

When we say Italian accent is it authentic, or mario?

The second would be endlessly hilarious

whoscolleen on December 20th, 2024 at 15:16 UTC »

When I was in elementary school, the music teacher slipped on some ice, hit her head, and started talking with a Russian accent deposit not speaking Russian or being of Russian descent.

ZOMBIE_N_JUNK on December 20th, 2024 at 15:15 UTC »

Whatsa matta with my voice? Mamma mia!!!!