Migraine sufferer starts speaking with Chinese accent

A British woman has unwittingly started speaking with a Chinese accent, despite never having visited the country. Sarah Colwill, who has suffered severe migraines for years, believes she has Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) - an extremely rare condition - which has caused her speech to change. The 35-year-old believes the phenomenon must be linked to her acute headaches.

"I am frustrated to sound like this, I just want my own voice back, but I don't know if I will get it back," she said. "I have never been to China. I was born in Germany but I moved here when I was 18 months old."


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Mrs Colwill, who lives in St Budeaux in Plymouth, Devon, with her husband Patrick said she had been suffering from severe head pain for around a decade. She has since been diagnosed with rare sporadic hemiplegic migraines which cause the blood vessels in her brain to expand resulting in stroke symptoms including paralysis down one side of the body. The effects normally last for around seven days but recently Sarah has been having migraine attacks two or three times a week - resulting in the speech change.

"I knew I sounded different but I didn't know how much and people said I sounded a bit Chinese," she said. "Then I had another attack and when the ambulance crew arrived they said I definitely sounded Chinese." The change in Mrs Colwill's voice has left doctors puzzled but she believes her migraines may have triggered FAS. The rare disorder is thought to be caused by strokes and brain injuries and causes sufferers to lose the ability to talk in their native accents.