Georgia teen wakes from coma speaking fluent Spanish

Reuben's Medical Fund/GoFundMe
Reuben’s Medical Fund/GoFundMe

Georgia teen Reuben Nsemoh, 16, gave his parents the shock of their lives when he woke up from a coma speaking only Spanish. Oddly enough, Nsemoh had never spoken the language fluently before.


According to WSB Radio, the 16-year-old Parkview High School sophomore suffered his third concussion after being kicked in the head during a soccer game. The goalie for an elite traveling soccer team was later airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center, where he spent three days in a coma.


“I was in shock and panic,” Nsemoh’s coach, Bruno Kalonji, told WSB-TV, adding that Nsemoh stopped breathing several times after the blow. “He will start coming back, then he will throw up. It was a sequence of things I’ve never seen, it was bad.”

Days later, his parents claim the teen woke up speaking fluently in Spanish. Fast forward several days later and Nsemoh’s English had returned and his ability to communicate in Spanish had faded.


As for what could have sparked the odd occurrence, Nsemoh told WSB Radio that he may have subconsciously recalled conversations he overheard between his friends and brother. “My friends would always talk to me in Spanish and would teach me,” he said. “I wasn’t perfect, but my brother is a really fluent Spanish speaker. So he kind of inspired me with that too.”

In spite of it all, including the fact his coach called it one of the worst concussions he’d ever seen, Nsemoh revealed his coma won’t dissuade him from getting back on the field.

“It’s my passion. It’s the one thing I want to do for my career,” he explained; however, one thing is certain, he’ll be wearing a helmet. “This can happen even at practice,” he said. “And if kids already have two concussions or three, it’s recommended that they wear one.”

In the meantime, his parents are asking for support to cover the child’s medical payments by launching a GoFundMe campaign. Though it appears the incident will cost the Nsemoh’s upwards of $25K in medical costs, we assume nothing can take away from getting their beautiful boy back. Share your well wishes in the comment section below.

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