English-speaking Ben McMahon, 22, says he woke up and saw a nurse who looked Asian standing by his bed and said to her, 'Excuse me nurse, I feel really sore here' in Chinese.
Car crash victim wakes up from coma speaking fluent Chinese
An Australian man who woke from a week-long coma after a horrific car crash found himself speaking Chinese fluently.
Although he had previously studied Chinese in high school, McMahon claimed his skills prior to the coma were basic at best.
Yet, supposedly, after gaining consciousness he began instinctively speaking to his nurse in Mandarin ("Hi, it really hurts here ... what happened to me?") -- even temporarily forgetting how to speak English.
His new-found language skills baffled his doctors and family.
Since acquiring his implausible talent overnight, McMahon has since gone on to present a TV show in Mandarin and has also relocated to Shanghai.
And recently, his divine gift has led him to love via reality TV.
'In Chinese there is an idiom that goes along the line of 'from a tragedy comes something great,' McMahon commented sagely.
Late last year he nabbed a spot on Chinese dating show "If You Are The One," and his appearance united him with Sydney-hailing Chinese lawyer Feng Guo, with whom he now shares a long-distance relationship.
But what happened to Ben is not the first of its kind.
In 2010, a 13-year-old Croatian girl woke up had replaced her fluency in her native language with speaking German.
More recently, a US navy veteran was found unconscious in a motel room and had no recollection of who he was and spoke fluent Swedish in July 2013.
Watch his short documentary below.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng