50-year-old Canadian resident Sharon Campbell-Rayment, a mother of two children, fell from a horse, hit her head and lost consciousness. When she woke up, she was silent for several days, and then began to speak with a Scottish accent, using idioms accepted in this language - despite the fact that she had never been to Scotland before.
Surprised doctors diagnosed the victim with the so-called "foreign accent syndrome", which has so far been noted in similar circumstances in only 60 inhabitants of the planet.
Sharon is sure that this incident is a sign from above, and that providence requires her to do something. In September 2010, a woman traveled to Scotland with her husband, Doug, to study the history of her family, since her ancestors came to Canada from that country over 100 years ago.
Upon her return, she quit her horse riding lessons and went to work in a rehabilitation center, where she helps people who have suffered from traumatic brain injury to recover. In an interview with the publication, she said that she feels like a completely different person, and is sure that brain injuries that do not have physical symptoms can nevertheless greatly affect people.
Today Sharon is writing a book about how this incident, which occurred in 2008, radically changed her life, according to the British edition of The Mirror on January 8.
The publication cites a number of more cases of “foreign accent syndrome: a resident of the British city of Plymouth spoke with a Chinese accent after a severe migraine attack; Glasgow retired Debbie McKenna spoke with an Italian accent after a stroke; Australian Lynn Rowe speaks with a French accent after a road accident.