French woman wakes from throat surgery sounding like del boy from only fools

LAETITIA, WHO LIVES IN THE WESTERN REGION OF SARTHE, FRANCE, WOKE UP FROM THROAT SURGERYN TO DISCOVER SHE HAD A NEW ACCENT UNCANNILY LIKE ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES FAVOURITE DEL BOY SIAN HEWITT

20:50, 20 May 2025Updated 20:50, 20 May 2025 A French woman went in for tonsil surgery and woke up sounding like Del Boy. Laetitia, who lives in the western region of Sarthe, woke up

sounding like a bit of a plonker after her throat surgery, and now sounds uncannily like the wheeler dealer from south London. The 47-year-old was having her tonsils removed, and although

she still speaks her native French language, her accent now sounds like she’s from Blighty. She has suffered from Foreign Accent Syndrome since the op in 2014. Doctors say that something

happened during the time she spent under anaesthetic, resulting in an area of her brain becoming irritated as it was “less well irrigated”. Medics were baffled when she woke with the south

London twang, and say nurses in her recovery assumed she was “Anglo-Saxon”. Article continues below Things got really tricky during Covid when English people weren’t allowed to travel to

France, as people grew suspicious of her being there. She said: “Everywhere I went, people looked at me as if I didn’t have the right to be here, at home”. And the worst part is, she can’t

even speak English bar the “basics” which she learnt at school - but “nothing more”. Speaking about her doctor, she said: “He examined me and told me everything was normal. “So I told him

again that I wasn’t Anglo-Saxon. He didn’t believe me, told me I was crazy, and I left the hospital in tears.” Article continues below Del Boy Trotter from Only Fools and Horses was well

known for his memorable “Franglais” phrases, often getting it very wrong. Some of his most famous phrases include: “Mange tout, mange tout, as the French say,” which he intended to mean “no

problem” but actually means “eat everything” and “Bonnet de douche!” which Del intended to mean “excellent,” but the actual meaning is “shower cap”.