Reuben Nsemoh,
son of Dora and Emmanuel Nsemoh, was the goalkeeper for their National League
soccer team. During a game, a player kicked the 16-year-old goalie from
Brookwood High School (Snellville, Georgia.) in the head when he dived for the
ball. This collision caused him to go into shock with a severe concussion. The
accident was serious enough that Reuben had to be airlifted off the field to an
Atlanta hospital where he spent over a week in ICU.
When Reuben
Nsemoh woke up from a three-day coma in ICU, he was speaking fluent Spanish
instead of English. He had never spoken the language before.
The first
thing he said after he motioned for food was:
“Tengo
hambre,” which means “I am hungry” in Spanish.
His mother was
shocked. She said:
“I was very
shocked. That’s something he’s never done before. When he got up and he started
speaking Spanish, I was confused”.
Reuben said he
has a lot of Spanish-speaking friends, who speak the language when he is
around. He believes this might have had something to do with the strange
episode that shocked and confused his parents.
"My
friends would always talk to me in Spanish and would teach me," he told
WSB. "I wasn't perfect, but my brother is a really fluent Spanish speaker.
So he kind of inspired me with that too."
Traumatic
brain injuries can cause short and long term changes in language, according to
TBI researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As he
recovered, Reuben started to speak English again, and he later talked to
reporters while recovering at home.
"Sometimes
I daze out," Reuben told a WSBTV reporter. "Sometimes I feel like I
am not there, but I am."
He was
recently released from hospital and is currently recuperating at home under his
parents' care. Unfortunately, Reuben's seizures have not stopped.
His parents
said it was his third concussion but he said he hopes to return to the field
and has no intention to wear a helmet.
"It's my
passion. It's the one thing I want to do for my career," Nsemoh said.
Watch the
video below:
Source: USA Today
Follow Solenzo Blog on
0 Comments