Boy Wakes Up From Coma Speaking A Language He Was Never Fluent In

For Reuben Nsemoh, life’s been full of ambiguities lately.

Following a concussion he suffered in a soccer game, the suburban Atlanta teen was troubled about his difficulty in concentrating. He was worried over whether he’ll ever get to play his favorite sport.

But the million dollar question is: how is it that he’s suddenly speaking fluent Spanish?

Another player accidentally kicked the 16-year old in the head during a game that put him in a coma.

When Nsemoh woke up, he did something he’d never done before: speak Spanish like a native.

Although he could already speak some Spanish, his parents said that he was never fluent in the language until his concussion.

But he’s starting to lose his fluency in Spanish as his English is coming back slowly.

Brain injuries can change a person’s speech pattern and give them a different accent. This extremely rare condition is called foreign accent syndrome. The first known case was documented in 1941. It involved a Norwegian woman who began speaking with a German accent after she suffered injuries to the brain during a German bombing run.

Since then there have been a few dozen reported cases.

In Australia, a former bus driver got in a car accident that left her with a broken jaw and back. When she regained consciousness, she was left with something absolutely surprising: a French accent.

Three years ago, police found a Navy veteran passed out in a Southern California motel. He had no memory of his previous life when he woke up and spoke only Swedish.

And early this year, a Texas woman has been speaking with a British accent ever since a jaw surgery.

Dr. Karen Croot, one of the few specialists in foreign accent syndrome, said a few years ago that the condition is an impairment of motor control. “Speech is one of the most complicated things we do, and there are a lot of brain centers involved in coordinating a lot of moving parts. If one or more of them are damaged, that can affect the timing, melody and tension of their speech,” she added.

 

The post Boy Wakes Up From Coma Speaking A Language He Was Never Fluent In appeared first on Newsline.

According to Hacked Email, US to Ring China With Missile Defense

According to hacked email messages, US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the United States had cautioned Beijing it would surround China with missile defense unless it did more to rein in North Korea’s missile program. She said this in an exclusive speech to bank executives three years.

Clinton said in a speech to Godman Sachs on June 4, 2013 that the implication to China had been, “You either control them, or we’re going to have to defend against them.” This was taken from a supposed Clinton campaign document. The file was appended to an email published by Wikileaks.

The authenticity of the leaked email was impossible to confirm. Further, the Clinton campaign has neither confirmed nor denied the validity of hacked emails.

On Friday, the State Department refused to comment on “alleged leaked documents”. An official remarked that to comment publicly on diplomatic discussions was not department policy.

According to the hacked email, the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech that Washington could not tolerate a situation in which North Korea developed an inter-continental ballistic missile that can carry a miniaturized warhead.

She said that this could compromise treaty allies South Korea and Japan. Moreover, this could reach Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States.

“We’re going to ring China with missile defense. We’re going to put more of our fleet in the area. So China, come on. You either control them, or we’re going to have to defend against them,” Clinton said, according to the email.

China says THAAD radar a security risk

Plans revealed this year by South Korea and United States to set up the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system has angered China. The anti-missile defense system is aimed to defend against the threat posed by North Korean missiles.

Beijing is worried that the system’s powerful radar would pose a risk to its security. The United States, however, has reasoned THAAD is not intended at restraining China.

In February, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States had made apparent that resolving the North Korean nuclear issue is the way to avert THAAD deployment.

The post According to Hacked Email, US to Ring China With Missile Defense appeared first on Newsline.