{"id":133144,"date":"2015-07-10T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T08:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=133144"},"modified":"2015-07-09T19:49:39","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T19:49:39","slug":"british-woman-who-woke-up-with-chinese-accent-told-its-permanent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=133144","title":{"rendered":"British woman who woke up with Chinese accent told it\u2019s permanent"},"content":{"rendered":"
A British woman who woke up with a strong Chinese accent \u2013 despite never having been to China \u2013 has been told it\u2019s permanent.<\/p>\n
Sarah Colwill, 40, had a stroke, and woke up with a completely different accent.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of only 20 known cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome worldwide<\/p>\n
Sarah, of Plymouth, Devon, said: \u2018They\u2019ve tried various treatments; they\u2019ve tried everything, but nothing makes a difference.<\/p>\n
\u2018Being told I would be like this forever was a heartbreaking thing to hear. It was a real bombshell.<\/div>\n
\u2018I am still the same person inside. Of course, people who did not know me before have met a totally different person \u2013 but I am still Sarah from Plymouth.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sometimes people cannot understand me, which is frustrating. But when my speech is really bad, I just don\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n
\u2018I cannot make my voice sound any different. It is what it is and I cannot change it.<\/p>\n
It was first identified during the Second World War when a Norwegian woman was hit by shrapnel during an air raid.<\/p>\n
She suffered brain damage and developed a strong German accent, which led to her being ostracised by her community in 1941.<\/p>\n