Friday, July 8, 2011

You Can't Make This Shit Up

An article I found somewhere:

Woman Gets Oral Surgery, Wakes Up With Irish Accent

When Karen Butler meets new people, they often ask where she's from.  Why?  Butler speaks with what sounds like an Irish accent.  But she didn't acquire it from spending time across the Atlantic.  She picked it up at the dentist's office.

Speaking about her medical oddity on the "Today" show, Butler explained that she went in for a surgical procedure about a year and a half ago.  The funny voice she was speaking with immediately after seemed to just be par for the course, right along with the swelling and soreness.  But as time went on and she healed from the surgery, her body returned to normal and the voice didn't go away.

The culprit my be an extremely rare condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome, which is triggered by a stroke or brain damage, Dr. Ted Lowenkopf, medical director of the Providence Stroke Center in Oregon, said on "Today."  "It's so rare -- less than 100 cases ever reported -- that the average neurologist, even a stroke neurologist, would not see a case in their lifetime."

Foreign Accent Syndrome?  WTF?  Besides, it isn't all that rare.  It happened to me once.  Got drunk and started talking like Barney Fife!

(BTW The photo has nothing to do with the article, I just like it.)

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for that clarification about the photo. I most likely would not have read the post had it not been for the Hook.
    So did she sue the dentist for causing a stroke?

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  2. I'm with Punch. I probably wouldn't have read this had I not thought that was the 40's Irish starlette, Kim Novocaine. Tragic case, that one.

    I'm sure she put the bite on the dentist for a lot of dough, however.

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  3. 'ello, mate, 'ow ya doin? (excuse me, I just woke up).

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  4. Turns out she has made a small fortune by opening an "Irish" pub. Serves up bangers and mash and stuff like that. The photo, interestingly enough is... hey, wait a minute. You wouldn't have bothered reading were it not for the photo. What a pair of Neanderthals. You Barbara, on the other hand, are obviously a person of great good taste.

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  5. I read the article with complete, rapt interest, but I was wondering who the broad was. Fortunately, Jaded recognized Ms Novacaine

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