The human brain is an amazing thing!
Imagine never taking any language courses, or attempting to learn a new language…yet one day, you wake up and you speak another language…fluently! That was the case with one teen recently, after he woke up from a coma.
On September 24, 2016 during a soccer game another teenager accidentally kicked Rueben near his right temple, dealing him a severe concussion. Rueben lay unconscious on the field while teammates and family tried to revive him, but in the end Rueben was airlifted to a nearby hospital.
It was a scary situation for Rueben and his family for the first 24-hours, but he was able to be stabilized, yet he remained in a coma for three days.
When Rueben awoke from the coma and first went to speak…he spoke only in Spanish. His first words, “Tengo hambre,” or “I am hungry”, stunned doctors and his family. Rueben knew a few words of Spanish, but nothing major. He proceeded to speak only in fluent Spanish.
It’s not unheard of for patients to awake from a coma and speak another language, or have jumbled words. Rueben’s case is very different however. He was able to speak fluent Spanish without ever having any formal training on the language.
After a few weeks, Rueben’s English started to come back to him…but he can still speak Spanish!
Doctors have zero clue as to why this happened, only stating that the brain is a powerful and amazing part of the human body!
All ‘screenshot’ images via interview with TIME.com
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