Days after a horrific crash, a British man woke up from coma speaking fluent French and completely convinced that he was Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey.
Rory Curtis, 25, just had basic knowledge of the language and had not spoken it in 12 years. On 15 August 2012 Curtis was part of a crash in Straffordshire, which involved six cars and a large truck. He was travelling along the M42 near Tamworth in heavy rain when his car hit a lorry. He was trapped in the scene for 40 minutes until firefighters came to rescue him.
He had suffered a serious brain injury -- multifocal intracranial brain haemorrhage -- and broken pelvis. The former semi-professional footballer for Stourport Swifts FC was admitted to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital for six days. When he woke up, he spoke to the hospital staff in fluent French and was convinced that he was the famous "True Detective" star Matthew McConaughey.
"I don't remember coming round but my family said one of the nurses was from Africa and spoke French and I was having conversations with her. I was just casually chatting away about how I was feeling in this perfect French accent...I don't remember coming round but my family said one of the nurses was from Africa and spoke French and I was having conversations with her. I was just casually chatting away about how I was feeling in this perfect French accent," Curtis told Metro.
He further said that when he went to the toilet, he was shocked to see his face in the mirror because in his head, he thought he was Matthew McConaughey and the person he saw in the mirror wasn't him. "Then slowly over time it eventually clicked and I thought 'he is an actor, what am I on about? But at times I was in hospital thinking I can't wait to get out of here and back to filming movies. I was convinced I was him and that I had his good looks as well - I know it was hopeful thinking really," he added, Daily Mail reports.
However, when Curtis left the hospital in November 2012, he no longer believed he was the Oscar-winning actor, but he continues to speak fluent French even two years on.
