A FORMER Island swimmer has told of his shock after he suffered a severe stroke – and was left with a French accent.
Jack Allan was rushed to hospital with a bleed on the brain after being kicked in the head during a mixed martial arts sparring session at Loughborough University last October.
He was initially unable to walk or talk but, as his recovery continued and he began to utter his first words, he noticed he sounded more like a Frenchman than a born-and-bred Islander.
“I noticed my French accent straight away,” said the 21-year-old.
“And the more tired or frustrated I got, the more French the accent became.”
Mr Allan, who has documented his recovery on his Instagram account, was diagnosed with foreign accent syndrome, a rare condition which can be caused by a traumatic brain injury.
Through a rigorous rehabilitation programme, Mr Allan, who represented Jersey at swimming in the NatWest Island Games and Commonwealth Games, can now walk and talk… with a British accent again.
