'A stroke left me with an Italian accent'
The 58-year-old, from Highbury, north London, was rushed to hospital and found to have had a stroke that had left her unable to speak or feel the upper-right side of her body.
Doctors identified a carotid web in her neck - a rare shelf-like structure that can interrupt blood flow to the brain - as the cause and, in August, they performed surgery to remove it.
The following day while recovering in intensive care, she says a nurse woke her to take her blood pressure and "completely out of the blue, I just started speaking".
"She looked as shocked as I did. The nurse rushed to get colleagues round to my bed. No-one could believe I was talking after so long," she explains.
The grandmother, who is a medically retired customer service advisor, says she has never spoken Italian or even visited Italy, but has now gained a distinct accent.
She claims she even uses words and mannerisms such as "mamma mia", "bambino" and "si" in conversation without realising it.
