Operation turns boy "posh"

A boy who had a brain op after being struck down by meningitis woke up talking like a member of the Royal Family. William McCartney-Moore’s family were stunned when the Yorkshire lad, ten, started chatting in southern toff tones.

Mum Ruth, 45, said: “He went in with a Yorkshire accent and came out all posh. He no longer has short ‘a’ vowel sounds — they are all long in words like ‘bath’. We couldn’t believe it because he had a northern accent before his illness. He just thinks he is speaking normally.”

William, from York, was struck down with a rare form of meningitis. Surgeons feared he might not survive the op and his mum even cut a lock of his hair to remember him by if he didn’t make it. He was in hospital for 13 months but has now recovered and is back at school. The op affected a part of his brain that controls speech.

William can also now play the trumpet and piano better than he did before the op. Music teacher Ruth said: “He lost everything after the surgery. William couldn’t read or write and his speech was bizarre.”