I completely agree. I liken it to hearing a song and not knowing for sure what the lyrics are and when you think you know and start singing it with those incorrect words, you really can't hear the right words - you only hear what you have in your head. That might not make sense, but for an example, my daughter was very young when the GhostBuster movie came out and when she heard the song lyrics say, "Who ya gonna call? GhostBusters!" She sang it, "Who ya gonna call? NO Mustache!" That's what she thought it said and was convinced she was right. Even now when I hear that song, I want to sing, NO MUSTACHE!. And the song from Flashdance named "Maniac." Words are "She's a maniac, maniac on the dance floor." She had no idea what a maniac was, but the words to her sounded like "She's a medium, medium." Because she knew small, "medium", large. In high school, I was convinced the song by Jimmy Buffet (?) that said, "Stepped on a pop top, blew out my flip flop," was saying , "Stepped on a poptart, blew out my flip flop."
Also, I have typed depositions for over 20 years. I can't begin to describe all the times that I was certain the deposed person was saying one thing when in actuality they were saying something completely different! And they're in a quiet room (usually) with no commotion, engine noises, pumpers, sirens, people everywhere, radio transmissions, etc.
Point being, I think the power of persuasion is just that, powerful. With her thick tongue, burned throat and esophagus, I could easily believe that if she were trying to say Quentin (two syllables) it's possible to hear a two-syllable name that is more readily known like Eric than to hear Quentin. JMO.