An English woman who woke up with a Welsh accent – despite never having visited the country – is asking for help to find her voice.
Zoe Coles, 36, fears the distinctive accent is “stuck” and won’t go away after she developed the voice overnight in June 2023.
The mother-of-two, from Stamford in Lincolnshire, is often asked if she is from Cardiff and can now roll her Rs.
Mrs. Coles, a former bartender, now becomes “anxious” every time she leaves the house because she feels like she “no longer fits in” because of her new voice.
She believes she suffers from the extremely rare Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS). There have only been around 150 documented cases worldwide since its first mention in 1907.
Zoe Coles, 36 (pictured) fears the distinctive accent is “stuck” and won’t go away after she developed the voice overnight in June 2023, nine months ago.
Zoe Coles shared her story on social media and revealed she’s been stuck with a Welsh accent for nine months. Ms Coles said she always became “anxious” and didn’t feel like she fit in.
It is usually the result of head or brain trauma, with stroke being the most common cause.
FAS can also occur as a result of brain trauma, brain bleeding, or a brain tumor.
Other causes reported in medical journals include multiple sclerosis and conversion disorder.
Ms Coles, who also has a functional neurological disorder (FND), says her accent reverts to “English” when she has severe flare-ups.
She said: “When I have a bad flare-up and I can’t walk, my old accent reverts to English.
“I don’t know why, because it’s so rare that little is known about it.”
Ms Coles, who initially developed a German accent before shifting to Welsh, added: “I struggle a lot, you are born with a voice, you grow up and develop a way of speaking.
“That was taken away from me.
“Even though it has given me a boost of self-confidence, I wish it would all go away and life would go back to normal.”
Ms Coles asked for help on TikTok to find an expert or neurologist who could help her deal with this sudden change. But experts told him there was nothing they could do
FND is related to a problem with how the brain receives and sends information to the rest of the body.
Some patients may suffer from limb weakness, seizures, difficulty walking, muscle twitching and sensory problems, according to the charity FND Action.
One study suggested that foreign accent syndrome can “sometimes represent FND.”
In videos shared on her TikTok account @zoecoles1, she revealed that FND leaves her in chronic pain and sometimes prevents her from speaking and walking.
She said she often suffered from ticks, memory problems, slurred speech and leg pain.
She said: “I was a full-time working mother, I could get up and clean the house in two hours, take a shower, get ready, go shopping, go to work and come home.”
“Now I have to be assisted in the shower in case my legs get in the way. I can’t do the cleaning in two hours, it’s more like two days.
“I get tired so quickly, I can go shopping because I can hold the trolley but I can’t do much more.
“It completely erases me.”
Speaking about her accent, Ms Coles said: “Part of me has learned to get used to it, but I met a few Welsh people who asked me where I was from.
“It’s really difficult, I don’t want to lie and say I’m from somewhere in Wales.
“I have no idea about Wales, I’ve never been there.”
Ms Coles saw a neurologist and was told there was nothing he 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 actually happen.
“It’s a reality for me, even though I don’t like it, I love the accent and I’ve adapted to it.
“But it still gives me problems, I still get headaches and tingling in my face.
“It’s not just the accent, it’s so difficult for me.”