LONDON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A supermarket worker from Liverpool in northern England has ended up with a Russian accent on her road to recovery after suffering a life-changing stroke.
Mom of two, Rose Griffiths, aged 69, was told she could never walk or talk again after she collapsed suddenly at her workplace.
Liverpool is famed around the world for its famous "Scouse" dialect, and Griffiths, who was born in the city, was proud of her home-grown accent.
After intensive rehabilitation, she learnt to walk and write again, but when her speech returned she was shocked to find herself speaking with a Russian accent.
Griffiths told the Liverpool Echo newspaper: "At first I wasn't able to communicate with the outside world and it was very frustrating. I always thought I would be like this, but knew I wanted to get better. When my speech came back, at first I had a Russian accent although I was born in Liverpool city center."
There were more surprises for the mom of two, reported the newspaper, saying her accent suddenly changed to East European and then a German accent, a condition known as Foreign Accent Syndrome.
Griffiths said that five years after her stroke, she has had to accept that she will never get her Liverpool accent back.
She said: "I'll never get my own accent back. As long as I am able to speak again, I don't care what accent I have. My daughters were marvellous and never gave up on me, they helped me to get to where I am now."
Griffiths was also given help by the charity the Stroke Association and has now become one of their volunteer workers.
