Current Date: 28 Apr, 2026
{{entry.title}}

Croatian teenager wakes up from coma speaking fluent in German In 2010

In 2010, a Croatian teenager awoke from a coma to discover she could no longer speak Croatian but was fluent in German, a language she had just recently begun studying at school in the United Kingdom. reports in the press

In 2010, a Croatian teenager awoke from a coma to discover she could no longer speak Croatian but was fluent in German, a language she had just recently begun studying at school in the United Kingdom. reports in the press

According to the United Kingdom, a thirteen-year-old girl from the southern town of Knin has been able to understand Croatian after a bizarre 24-hour coma. According to the sources, she can only respond in German and needs a translator to interact with her family.

Dujomir Marasovic, the director of Firule Hospital in Split, where the girl is being treated, refuses to disclose any additional information about her case, citing a desire to safeguard her privacy.

Though physicians say it’s doubtful that the girl’s German improved as a result of her coma, lost language and strange speech alterations are more common than one may expect.

The team enlisted the help of neurologists and language experts to comment on these unusual linguistic occurrences.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

Foreign Accent Syndrome is one such rare but well-documented speech disorder. After a stroke or other type of brain trauma, people with this illness will often be unable to talk, and when they do, their voices will have a foreign accent.

Their new accent might sound French, Chinese, Slavic, or any other nationality, but it’s not really an accent.

According to Regina Jokel, a speech-language pathologist in Toronto, this issue is “really a speech impediment that makes them seem ‘foreign,'” albeit the “origin” of the accent is often in the listener’s ear.

According to Dr. Gregory O’Shanick, president and medical director of the Center for Neurorehabilitation Services in Virginia, the problem isn’t a newly acquired accent, but a disruption in the patient’s ability to construct words.

The situation of the Croatian teen, on the other hand, is a little more perplexing because she is said to have switched languages. Though her health is unknown, scientists believe her injury has something to do with impairment to the brain’s language producing regions.

Waking Up German

“These kinds of events are infrequent so being able to really study them in a consistent way is difficult,” O’Shanick says, “but there are cases where persons learning a second language will be better able to speak that language post-injury.”

According to him, this shift is due to the distinct locations in the brain where linguistic knowledge is stored.

While the information that allows one to talk in one’s native tongue is stored on the left side of the brain, O’Shanick claims that the ability to speak a second language is primarily derived from the right side.

A second (or third, or fourth) language learned in early childhood will be preserved alongside the first, according to Jokel, while languages gained later in life will be stored somewhere else.

As a result, when trauma leads to enhanced memory of the second language, O’Schanick speculates that they may have suffered a brain injury to the left side.

In a similar example reported in the United Kingdom, a Czech race car driver regained consciousness after a crash and spoke only English to the rescuers — with a British accent, no less. However, this was only a brief impact, and he quickly resumed using his native Czech.

“When a brain injury happens, such as from a car accident, a stroke, a tumor, or other reasons,” Jokel explains, “certain parts of the network may be preserved while others are temporarily or irreparably destroyed.”

“It’s not typical, but it’s not unheard of for a multilingual person to lose one language totally or partially while retaining another.”

Many doctors are skeptical about the Croatian instance.

“This would have been looked to as a miracle in past times,” said Dr. Mijo Milas, a mental expert engaged in the teen’s case. press. “We like to believe that there must be a logical explanation somewhere; we just haven’t discovered it yet.”

Similar Stories
Who invented the three-point seat belt?

Who invented the three-point seat belt?

While employed by Volvo in 1959, Swidish engineer Nils Bohlin created the three-point safety belt. Volvo first had the design patented, but soon as they discovered its importance as a new safety measure, they made the patent open to everyone. Millions of lives were genuinely spared by Volvo’s gift to the world.

The WWII Parachute Wedding Dress

The WWII Parachute Wedding Dress

Major Claude Hensinger jumped out of a B-29 bomber during World War II when the engine caught fire. He was saved by his parachute. Later, he requested that his fiancée Ruth make him a gown out of the same parachute. The dress is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

A Pilot Survived 20 Minutes Outside A Flying Jet

A Pilot Survived 20 Minutes Outside A Flying Jet

In 1990, the captain of flight 5390 Timothy Lancaster got sucked out of his own plane when the window of the plane fell off. The crew held the captain’s leg for 30 minutes while the plane performed emergency landing. Everyone survived.

A U.S. Submarine Collides with a Japanese Fishing Ship in 2001

A U.S. Submarine Collides with a Japanese Fishing Ship in 2001

In 1998, 14-year-old Michael Crowe was charged with the murder of his sister. The police started targeting him after he seemed “distant and preoccupied” when his sister’s body was discovered, and during interrogation, police coercion led him to make a false confession. He was later declared factually innocent and the family won a lawsuit of $7.25 million in 2011.

JBJ Soul Kitchen: Bon Jovi's community restaurant

JBJ Soul Kitchen: Bon Jovi's community restaurant

JBJ Soul Kitchen is a community restaurant by Jon Bon Jovi with no prices on the menu; customers donate to pay for their meals. If you are unable to donate you may do volunteer work in exchange for your family’s meal.

How 'Brad's Drink' Became Pepsi-Cola

How 'Brad's Drink' Became Pepsi-Cola

Pepsi was first introduced as “Brad’s Drink” in New Bern, North Carolina, United States, in 1893 by Caleb Bradham, who made it at his drugstore where the drink was sold. It was renamed Pepsi Cola in 1898, named after the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the recipe.

Leo Grand: from homeless to mobile app developer

Leo Grand: from homeless to mobile app developer

In 2013, A young programmer offered a homeless man the choice between $100 cash or coding lessons. Leo Grand chose the lessons, and his first mobile app was “Trees for Cars," which helps drivers find carpooling partners.

Missing Masterpiece Discovered in the Background of ‘Stuart Little’

Missing Masterpiece Discovered in the Background of ‘Stuart Little’

In 2009, Gergely Barki, an art historian, was watching the film Stuart Little (1999) when he spotted an original long-lost painting used as a prop. Called Sleeping Lady with Black Vase, this painting was the work of Hungarian avant-garde painter Róbert Berény. The painting had been considered lost after World War II.

Abraham Crijnssen – The Ship That Disguised Itself As An Island

Abraham Crijnssen – The Ship That Disguised Itself As An Island

During World War II a Dutch minesweeper evaded the Japanese for eight days disguised as an island. The crew covered the decks in cut trees and painted exposed surfaces to look like rocks. They moved only at night and anchored closed to shore by day, eventually escaping to Australia.

Why Is the N Lowercase in 7-Eleven?

Why Is the N Lowercase in 7-Eleven?

7-ELEVEN is thought to have a lowercase "n" in its logo because the company president's wife believed that a logo with all caps would seem harsh, while a lowercase "n" would make it more graceful.

Mystery of 300-year-old mummified mermaid is being probed

Mystery of 300-year-old mummified mermaid is being probed

There is a 300-year-old mummified mermaid with 30 centimetres tall and features a human-like head, two hands with what appear to be fingernails, and its lower body that look like a fish tail. The “mermaid mummy” is being probed by Japanese scientists in an attempt to unravel the mystery of its existence.

ILOVEYOU Virus, the worst computer virus of all time

ILOVEYOU Virus, the worst computer virus of all time

The ILOVEYOU Virus, also known as Love Letter for You or Love Bug, had a high infection rate due to its ability to spread itself by copying entries from users' email address books. It is a virus that was created in 2000 by a college student in Manilla, Philippines, and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the worst computer virus of all time, causing more damage than anything before it.

24-year-old burglar beaten by retired boxer victim

24-year-old burglar beaten by retired boxer victim

A 24-year-old knife-wielding burglar attempted to get into the home of a 72-year-old senior in Oxford, England, in 2009, but was left battered, bruised, and pinned to the ground. Frank Corti, the elderly, turned out to be a former boxing champion.