Monday, April 19, 2010

British Woman Gets Migraine with Bonus Chinese Accent

Ancient Chinese Secret!

From FOX News:

Any migraine sufferer will tell you that the headache pain can be unbearable. After suffering a migraine so intense it changed her voice, a 35-year-old British woman is describing the pain with a Chinese accent.

Sarah Colwill commonly suffers from migraines, but when an extreme headache caused her to call an ambulance last month, (she) woke up in the hospital with an accent sounding more like someone who grew up in China rather than England, the Daily Mail reported.

Her new Chinese accent has made her voice unrecognizable to family and friends.

“I have had my friends hanging up on me because they think I'm a hoax caller,” she said. “I speak in a much higher tone now, my voice is all squeaky.”

Colwill was diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome, a rare condition that damages a part of the brain that controls speech and word configuration. She is currently undergoing speech therapy, but doctors are unsure her natural voice will ever return.

Really? Foriegn Accent Syndrome? This is an actual condition?

Now, I have a friend who gets a little drunk and starts to speak with an English accent. By the way, just to indicate that this is not a cross-cultural issue, my friend is not Chinese.

Who gets sued for this?