The Australian who woke up speaking 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 a 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.
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