Reuben Nsemoh survived a life-threatening head injury during a soccer game that put him in a coma, and woke up with new found abilities.

The 16-year-old goalkeeper at Brookwood High School, was kicked in the head weeks ago diving for a loose ball, marking his third concussion. Nsemoh stopped breathing and was in a coma for three days. When he finally woke up, he didn’t speak a bit of English, but fluently spoke Spanish, which he never knew before.

The Georgia teen’s parents said he could already speak some Spanish, but he was never fluent in it until his concussion. As his ability to speak English returned, his Spanish fluency has faded out. Nsemoh told reporter, “My friends would always talk to me in Spanish and would teach me.” The condition is called Foreign Accent Syndrome expert and Dr. Karen Croot explained, “It’s an impairment of motor control. Speech is one of the most complicated things we do, and there are a lot of brain centers involved in coordinating a lot of moving parts. If one or more of them are damaged, that can affect the timing, melody and tension of their speech.”

The soccer player is still recovering from his injury. The family has set up a GoFundMe page for his medical expenses.

Source: CNN|PHOTOCREDIT: Getty