Coma? I thought you said comb-over!
April 13th 2010 01:35
Medical experts in Croatia are studying a young girl who's woken from a coma... speaking fluent German.
The 13 year-old, whose name has not been released, was only in a coma for 24 hours but she now speaks German like a native. She had only studied German in school for a couple of weeks and. even more bizarrely, she's now completely lost her ability to speak Croatian.
As odd as it sounds, cases like this are far from rare. There are many documented incidences of people waking from comas with abilities they previously didn't have.
Last year 31 year-old Chris Gregory, from Yorkshire, fell into a coma after emergency surgery. 48 hours later he awoke, only to discover he now had a perfect Irish accent.
A few days later Chris' Yorkshire accent had returned and he had no memory of his Irish lilt - disappointment his fiancee who'd planned on having him sing Danny Boy at their wedding.
Then there's the case of British woman Tricia Whitehead, who was badly injured in a car crash. After two months in a coma Tricia suddenly woke and started speaking to nurses in perfect Spanish.
Tricia asked them to let her go home ("Saquene de aqui") and then complained about her hygiene, crying out "Yo soy apestoso, yo soy apestoso!" (I'm smelly! I'm smelly!).
Hundreds of similar cases have been reported around the world, and not just in recent times. In years gone by they were seen sometimes as miracles, but more often as the work of Satan, leading to exorcisms and even ritual killings.
There have even been cases of people waking from comas speaking in ancient languages that haven't been spoken in centuries, leading to claims of reincarnation.
Psychologists, of course, ridicule talk of demonic possession and past lives.
At the KB Hospital in Split, where the 13 year-old German-speaking Croatian is being treated, Dr Mijo Milas said there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.
"We know there is a scientific basis to these cases," he said.
"We... err... just haven't found it yet."
The 13 year-old, whose name has not been released, was only in a coma for 24 hours but she now speaks German like a native. She had only studied German in school for a couple of weeks and. even more bizarrely, she's now completely lost her ability to speak Croatian.
As odd as it sounds, cases like this are far from rare. There are many documented incidences of people waking from comas with abilities they previously didn't have.
Last year 31 year-old Chris Gregory, from Yorkshire, fell into a coma after emergency surgery. 48 hours later he awoke, only to discover he now had a perfect Irish accent.
A few days later Chris' Yorkshire accent had returned and he had no memory of his Irish lilt - disappointment his fiancee who'd planned on having him sing Danny Boy at their wedding.
Then there's the case of British woman Tricia Whitehead, who was badly injured in a car crash. After two months in a coma Tricia suddenly woke and started speaking to nurses in perfect Spanish.
Tricia asked them to let her go home ("Saquene de aqui") and then complained about her hygiene, crying out "Yo soy apestoso, yo soy apestoso!" (I'm smelly! I'm smelly!).
Hundreds of similar cases have been reported around the world, and not just in recent times. In years gone by they were seen sometimes as miracles, but more often as the work of Satan, leading to exorcisms and even ritual killings.
There have even been cases of people waking from comas speaking in ancient languages that haven't been spoken in centuries, leading to claims of reincarnation.
Psychologists, of course, ridicule talk of demonic possession and past lives.
At the KB Hospital in Split, where the 13 year-old German-speaking Croatian is being treated, Dr Mijo Milas said there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.
"We know there is a scientific basis to these cases," he said.
"We... err... just haven't found it yet."
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