Utah Dad Wakes Up From Surgery Suddenly Speaking Fluent Spanish (Video)

A Utah dad says he went under the knife — and woke up a completely different man.

Stephen Chase, 33, from near Salt Lake City, claims he came out of surgery speaking fluent Spanish despite barely being able to count to ten in the language before. What started as a routine knee operation turned into something straight out of a medical mystery show.

“When I woke up, I was speaking Spanish to the nurses checking on me,” Stephen recalled. “They kept asking me to speak English, and I was just… confused. In my head, I was speaking English.”

For nearly 20 minutes, Stephen chatted effortlessly in Spanish before the strange phenomenon faded and he returned to his normal self. But here’s the eerie part — it kept happening.

Over the years, Stephen says the bizarre switch has struck again and again — after surgeries for sports injuries and even during a recent procedure on his nose. Each time, he wakes up speaking flawless Spanish as if it were his first language.

“The nurses will ask, ‘How are you feeling?’ and I’ll answer back in perfect Spanish,” he said. “It’s like my brain flips a switch. I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”

Even stranger, Stephen admits he never really learned the language. “I didn’t pay attention in school at all,” he laughed. “But I grew up hearing it all the time — I just never understood it. Somehow it’s all still in there.”

Doctors say the rare phenomenon — known as Foreign Language Syndrome — can sometimes occur after anesthesia, brain trauma, or stress, triggering parts of the brain that store buried memories or dormant skills.

Stephen, who now works as an attorney, says he gives every medical team the same heads-up: “If I start talking like a local from Madrid, don’t panic — it’ll wear off in an hour.”

“Honestly,” he added, “it makes you wonder what else is hiding in your brain.”

Source: Kennedy News and Media