A woman who went mute for two months as the result of a mysterious brain injury can finally talk again - but rather than speak with the voice she has had all her life, she now talks with four different accents.
Emily Egan, 31, left doctors perplexed when she suddenly lost the ability to speak, with countless test failing to explain the reasoning behind her sudden silence.
However, after two months of being mute, Emily suddenly started talking again. However, instead of speaking with the Essex accent she had always had, she now speaks with a Polish accent, and even talks with "broken English".
Emily opens up about her new accent and the troubles she's faced in the video below:
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In addition to her new Polish accent, Emily's voice will sometimes change to a French or Italian accent as well - despite living in the UK all her life.
And if she feeling very stressed, Emily's accent becomes Russian, and if she is exhausted, she can lose the ability to talk altogether.
After months of confusion, Emily was finally diagnosed with foreign accent syndrome back in March - a rare speech disorder caused by brain damage.
Despite doctors originally suspecting that Emily had suffered a stroke, they have since ruled that cause out, and are still none the wiser as to what has caused Emily's brain damage.
Listen to what Emily's voice used to sound like in the video below:
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Emily said: "This whole experience has been exhausting and totally overwhelming.
"It's not just my accent that has changed - I don't speak or think in the same way as before this and I can't construct sentences like I used to.
"I write differently now, my whole vocabulary has changed and my English has gotten worse despite living in the UK all of my life.
"My dad has said that I don't sound like me anymore in that he'd never imagine me wording things like I do now.
"I've even experienced abuse from strangers who think I am foreign - I had a man shout at me in the supermarket saying foreigners like me are the reason we have coronavirus.
"It's changed my life completely."
Emily reveals that she had been suffering from headaches for two weeks prior to her suddenly losing her voice back in January. At the time, she was working at the children's home she manages in Bournemouth, England.
Her speech rapidly became slow and slurred - a key indicator of a stroke - so Emily was rushed to hospital where she underwent extensive MRI and CT scans.
During her stay in the hospital, Emily completely lost the ability to speak.
Three weeks later, and after doctors ruled out a stroke, Emily was discharged to a neurologist and was left to communicate solely through an app on her phone.
She said: "I knew a bit of basic sign language as I needed it for work years ago but I just used my hands to express what I wanted to say.
"I had to use a 'text to speak' app on my iPhone which sounded like Stephen Hawkins and it just wasn't me.
"Adjusting to communicating like this was so hard, I felt like a completely different person."
Despite being unable to talk, Emily's neurologist encouraged her to take a vacation to Thailand that she had booked with her partner Bradleigh, 27, prior to losing her voice.
The hope was that the trip would allow Emily to relax as much as possible, and five days into the vacation, Emily slowly started to speak again - albeit, with great difficulty and she said she "sounded deaf".
Her voice slowly grew stronger as the days passed, but Emily and her loved ones were shocked it had become evident that she had developed an Eastern European accent.
Emily said: "I'm an Essex girl normally - my accent was really strong and my voice was very high pitched and really recognizable, people always knew it was me calling.
"On holiday, I started making sounds like a deaf person trying to talk - it is thought that the neuropathways had started to open as my body had completely relaxed.
"By the time I was home, the words were sounding like a foreign language.
"I was so thrilled when my voice started coming back but now I don't even recognize the voice that comes out of my mouth, it doesn't sound like me.
"I actually used to be so good at putting on accents for my friends before this and I've even had people ask if I'm putting it on - as if I could keep it up this long!"
In an attempt to try and regain her normal accent, Emily has been having private vocal therapy once a week over Zoom. Sadly, there is currently no indication she will ever regain her former voice.
The incredibly rare condition resulted in Emily's body started to shut down, leaving her feeling exhausted.
And Emily's troubles didn't end there. Facing yet another symptom of the stroke, she was rushed to hospital where she was further diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder.
This resulted in her left arm and hand being left paralyzed. However, doctors are hopeful that she will regain feeling and movement as she undergoes physical therapy.
Nevertheless, life as Emily knew it has changed drastically in a matter of months, as she explained: "I'm only 31 years old and I am shocked at how much my life has changed in a matter of months.
"I've had to stop working because my job is quite stressful and the doctors have said stress will only make my condition worse.
"The hardest thing for me is learning that this voice is ok. I have to learn to accept that it's ok for me to not be able to get the words out straight away, it'll come eventually.
"I just have to stop getting so frustrated with myself so am practicing holistic approaches to calm and clear my mind with my therapist, as when I get frustrated, everything goes, there's no speech, and it's back to square one.
"I am learning that when I'm tired, my speech goes or my accent changes - it will deepen and go slow, and for the last week, it's been predominantly Russian.
"Doctors can't predict what will happen with my voice. It's just a matter of taking every day as it comes, so I'm just trying to stay positive and hopeful.
"I'd never heard of either of these really rare conditions and now I've been diagnosed with both, it has just been a total whirlwind."
We wish Emily all the best in her recovery.