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Englishman Wakes Up With Irish Accent After Brain Surgery!

by VR Sreeraman on Apr 29 2009 5:06 PM

Staff at Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital couldn't help laughing when a Yorkshireman allegedly started speaking in a broad Irish accent after waking up from a brain surgery.

Chris Gregory's family was shocked to see the 30-year-old belting out a version of Irish ballad Danny Boy from his hospital bed, even though he has never visited the country.

Gregory greeted his wife Mary with "It's da broid' and then continued to speak in the new accent for 30 minutes until his normal voice returned.

Gregory's strange behaviour - apparently the result of a rare condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome - lifted the mood of the intensive care ward at the hospital where he was recovering from surgery to correct a life-threatening blood vessel rupture in his brain.

"All the nurses were trying really hard not to laugh, and I was too. I just couldn't take it in at first, it seemed so comical, but it didn't matter at all because I'd been so worried about losing him altogether," the Telegraph quoted Mary as telling the Daily Mail.

"Chris's Yorkshire accent had vanished completely, and he was talking like an Irishman all the time.

"At one point he looked at me adoringly and said: 'You're da fabbest gal oi know! ' with a perfect Irish lilt in his voice.

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"It sounded crazy, but I didn't care. It was just great to have him back in one piece after such a traumatic time."

"It's not as if Chris has any Irish relatives. He's no connection with the country and he's never been there - that's what makes it all so strange," she added.

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Gregory, a payroll officer, is now fully recovered after the 2007 operation but has no memory of his temporary brogue.

"I've told Mary that she should have videoed me. At least then I could have sat back and watched myself singing Danny Boy," he said.

Source-ANI
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