Aussie woman wakes up from tonsil surgery with Irish accent
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An Australian woman experienced some culture shock after having tonsil surgery.
In a video posted on TikTok, Brisbane resident Angie Yen noted she no longer had an Australian accent two days after having the surgery, which took place April 19.
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Freaked out, Yen met with doctors and did lots of research about what happened to her local twang. Yen said she believes she has Foreign Accent Syndrome — normally caused by a brain injury that leads to people losing their natural accent.
“When I started singing, I was singing in a different sound and also talking words in a funny accent,” Yen said in an interview with website news.com.au.
After seeing doctors, Yen said she was told to go home and rest.
“They couldn’t do anything, I was normal. I just sounded different and (they said), ‘you’re still healing from your surgery so maybe your vocal cords are damaged,'” she said.
Yen decided to document her vocal transformation on TikTok, with videos showing her newly acquired Irish accent getting stronger as she recovered from the surgery.
Nine days after surgery, Yen updated viewers, noting the Irish accent wasn’t as “thick” anymore.
“In terms of how I am coping, I am definitely still in the third stage of grief, and the last two days were not pretty,” Yen said in the video, as reported by Daily Mail.
Yen said she’s found a neurologist with a specialty in stroke rehabilitation who is willing to help diagnose her vocal problem.
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Some TikTok viewers questioned whether Yen was faking her story for attention. Yen barked back (Irish accent and all), insisting she’s documenting her experience in hopes someone can learn from it.
“Unfortunately it’s not fake. I bloody damn hope that my Aussie accent is coming through, as it’s what I’ve had for the last 20 years,” she replied to a troll.
Yen told news.com.au while she struggles to accept the Irish accent, she’s grateful for all the support she’s received from family and friends.
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