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Waking from a coma speaking a foreign language

Ben McMahon has found a career in Chinese reality TV after a car crash left him unable to speak his native English. Waking from the 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.

First broadcast 2020

Presenter: Harry Graham
Producer: Mariana Des Forges

(Photo: Ben McMahon in a red tracksuit. Credit: Courtesy of Ben McMahon)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sun 7 Aug 2022 22:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 6 Aug 2022 08:32GMT
  • Sat 6 Aug 2022 23:32GMT
  • Sun 7 Aug 2022 08:32GMT
  • Sun 7 Aug 2022 18:32GMT
  • Sun 7 Aug 2022 22:32GMT

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