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Outlook: Waking from a coma speaking a foreign language

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Ben McMahon in a red tracksuit

06/08/2022 GMT

Waking from a coma speaking a foreign language

BBC World Service - Outlook, Waking from a coma speaking a foreign language

Ben McMahon woke from a coma only able to speak Chinese Mandarin

Ben McMahon has found a career in Chinese reality TV after a car crash left him unable to speak his native English. Waking from the coma, he could only speak Mandarin.

Ben McMahon from Melbourne, Australia, has had an unlikely career in Chinese reality TV after waking up from a coma speaking Mandarin. When he was 18 years old, Ben suffered a head injury during a car crash. During his early recovery he was unable to speak his native English, and could only communicate with confused doctors in Mandarin, a language he’d studied in high school. Ben regained his English but his Mandarin stayed strong and helped him secure a spot on a Chinese dating show he was obsessed with.

First broadcast 2020

Presenter: Harry Graham
Producer: Mariana Des Forges

(Photo: Ben McMahon in a red tracksuit. Credit: Courtesy of Ben McMahon)

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