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A Texas woman, Lisa Alamia, went into jaw surgery in December 2015 to correct an overbite and came out not just smiling, but also with a British Accent.
“I was very shocked,” she told ABC News. “I didn’t know how to take it. I was very confused. I said ‘Ya’ll’ all the time before the accent. Once I got the accent, I started noticing I’d say, ‘You all.’”
Her husband Richard Alamia who noticed the change right after the surgery asked the doctor if it would go away, and the doctor replied in the affirmative.
But it didn’t. She later went on to see a neurologist.
“Very unusual. I can’t think of a reason the jaw surgery would cause it. I went back and looked at the operative report to see if there were any complications from surgery but there weren’t any,” said Dr. Toby Yaltho of Houston Methodist Hospital Sugar Land.
He went on to run some tests only to discover that she developed a rare neurological disorder called Foreign Accent Syndrome which has only been reported only 100 times ever.
“I’d read about it and heard about, but I never thought I’d see it,” Dr. Yaltho said.
Researchers say it is usually caused by brain injury or after a traumatic event but doctors were bewildered by Lisa’s case.
There is no known cure for the disorder, and while the accent may fade with time, it may stick with the person for life.
With support from her friends and family she’s embracing her new accent.
Watch her on ABC News below: