Oh, golly gosh, listen to me: Surgery leaves Texas mum with British accent

An American mother who had surgery on her jaw now speaks with a British accent after she was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder. Lisa Alamia, a mother of three from Rosenberg, Texas, had the surgery to correct an overbite, but it ended up changing her speech. Her neurologist, Dr Toby Yalto, has put her through a series of tests but has so far been unable to determine what has caused her to develop the condition, known as foreign accent syndrome.

People who don’t know me, they’re like ‘hey were are you from? I’m from Rosenberg’. They’re like 'where is that?’ I’m like 'right here in Rosenberg’. 'Oh you’re from here how do you talk like that?’

Lisa Alamia

Ms Alamia is one of fewer than 100 people worldwide who have developed the condition in the last century. Her family and friends now ridicule her for the accent, after initially thinking she was joking. The mother-of-three said: “I didn’t know the reaction I was going to get from people. So I didn’t know if they’re going to judge me. Are they going to think I’m lying or even understand how I’m speaking?” She hopes her accent will eventually return to normal.

I thought she was joking with me. But then she showed me that the doctor diagnosed her with foreign accent syndrome. Then I was like, 'Oh, Lord.’

Ms Alamia’s daughter, Kayla

foreign accent syndrome