Appeal by English woman 'stuck' with Welsh accent

An English woman who woke up with a Welsh accent has appealed for medical help after speaking with her new lilt for six weeks.

Zoe Coles, from Lincolnshire, says her voice morphed from her original accent, to German and then into Welsh.

She was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in 2022. She now believes she has Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS).

"It won't go away, I think it's stuck," said Zoe, who has never visited Wales.

Ms Coles said she had to stop her job in a pub near Bourne due to her vocal changes.

"I've come away from work because I woke up six weeks ago with this accent.

"At first, it was more like a strong German accent and now I believe it's a Welsh accent."

'Just a blip'

Studies on The British Medical Journal (BMJ) cite dozens of examples of FAS, which can be associated with neurological problems.

Ms Coles has chronicled her experiences of her conditions on social media, with videos showing FND left her with chronic pain, loss of motor control and speech problems.

She said she was now looking for a neurologist or expert to help her, after she had failed to obtain a referral to specialist at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

A St George's spokesperson said: "Our specialist neurology team has replied to Ms Coles' referring doctor and we await their response on the future of her care."

Ms Coles is looking for a neurologist "who can help me" and others like her, she says

Ms Coles told the BBC: "There are many FND sufferers but this accent syndrome... something has obviously gone wrong up in my brain, like something's obviously not right, because who on earth wakes up speaking a totally different accent?

"So I would like to work with somebody [who] can help me and then we can help others."

Ms Coles said since she had picked up her new accent people made her feel "awkward" when she spoke.

She said she liked her new twang but thought she "would get over it" as it was "just a blip".