An English woman who woke up with a Welsh accent – despite never visiting the country – is pleading for help to get her voice back.
Zoe Coles, 36, fears the distinctive accent is ‘stuck’ and won’t go away after developing the voice overnight in June 2023.
The mother-of-two, from Stamford in Lincolnshire, is often asked if she is from Cardiff and now has her Rs.
Mrs Coles, a former barmaid, now becomes ‘anxious’ when she leaves the house as she feels she ‘doesn’t fit in’ anymore because of her new voice.
She thinks she has the extremely rare foreign accent syndrome (FAS). Since its first mention in 1907, only about 150 cases have been documented worldwide.
Zoe Coles, 36, (pictured) fears distinctive accent is ‘stuck’ and won’t go away after developing the voice overnight in June 2023, nine months ago
Zoe Coles shared her story on social media and revealed she has been stuck with a Welsh accent for nine months. Ms Coles said she still gets ‘anxious’ and feels like she doesn’t fit in
It usually results from head or brain injuries, with strokes being the most common cause.
FAS can also occur after brain trauma, a cerebral hemorrhage or a brain tumor.
Other causes mentioned in medical journals include multiple sclerosis and conversion disorder.
Ms Coles, who also has a functional neurological disorder (FND), says her accent returns ‘back to English’ when she has severe flare-ups.
She said: ‘When I have a severe attack and can’t walk, my old accent returns to English.
‘I have no idea why because it is so rare that not much is known about it.’
Ms Coles, who originally developed a German accent before it changed to Welsh, added: “I struggle with it a lot, you are born with a voice, you grow up and develop a way of speaking.
‘That was taken from me.
‘Even though it has given me a boost of confidence, I would like everything to go away and life to return to normal.’
Ms Coles is asking for help on TikTok to find an expert or neurologist who can help her cope with the sudden change. But experts have told her there is nothing they can do
FND refers to a problem with the way the brain receives information and sends it to the rest of the body.
According to the charity FND Action, some patients may suffer from limb weakness, seizures, walking difficulties, muscle twitching and sensory problems.
One study has suggested that foreign accent syndrome “may sometimes represent FND.”
In videos shared to her TikTok account @zoecoles1, she revealed that FND causes her chronic pain and sometimes makes it impossible to talk and walk.
She explained that she often suffered from ticks, memory problems, slurred speech and pain in her legs.
She said: ‘I was a full-time working mother, I could get up and clean the house, shower, get ready, run errands, go to work and come home in two hours.
‘Now I have to be helped while showering, in case my legs become too heavy. I can’t do the homework in two hours, it’s more like two days.
‘I get so tired so quickly, I can go shopping because I can hold the trolley, but I can’t do much else.
“It completely destroys me.”
Speaking about her accent, Ms Coles said: ‘Part of me has learned to cope, but I’ve come across a few Welsh people asking me where I’m from.
“That’s really hard, I don’t want to lie and say I’m from Wales somewhere.
‘I have no idea about Wales, I’ve never been there.’
Mrs Coles has seen a neurologist and was told there was nothing they could do.
She said: ‘I want to raise awareness and show that this is real life.
‘I’m speaking out because I want people to see that these things are really happening.
“This is a reality for me, even if I don’t like it, I like the accent and I have adapted to it.
‘Although it still causes problems for me, I still get headaches and tingling in my face.
“It’s not just the accent, it’s so hard for me.”