- Title: Turkish man starts speaking Danish after suffering brain blood clot
- Date: 25th April 2025
- Summary: Turkish man starts speaking Danish after suffering brain blood clot SHOTLIST KONYA, TÜRKİYE (APRIL 25, 2025) (ANADOLU – ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF RAHMI KARADEMIR HAVING VIDEO CALL WITH HIS DAUGHTER IN DANISH LANGUAGE 2. MERAL KARADEMIR, DAUGHTER OF RAHMI KARADEMIR SITTING NEXT TO HIS FATHER, TRANSLATING HIS SPEECH IN DANISH / FATHER RAHMI CRYING, MERAL KARADEMIR TRYING TO CONSOLE HIM 3. RAHMI KARADEMIR SITTING ON BED 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) PROF. DR. GOKHAN OZDEMIR SAYING: "We have seen that the patient (Rahmi Karademir) had forgotten the Turkish language, which he used in normal daily life, and could no longer speak it. However, he began speaking Danish again—a language he hadn’t used in 10 years and had supposedly forgotten. Such cases exist in the literature. In multilingual individuals, when there is a vascular occlusion or cerebral hemorrhage in the brain's language region, we sometimes see that patients can speak one or two languages while losing others. However, this has one advantage: at least being able to speak one language provides a foundation for potentially relearning the forgotten languages later." 5. RAHMI KARADEMIR HAVING VIDEO CALL WITH HIS DAUGHTER IN DANISH LANGUAGE 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) DAUGHTER OF RAHMI KARADEMIR, MERAL KARADEMIR SAYING: "Ten years ago, my father retired and returned here (to Konya) to settle down. During this time, he never spoke Danish—only a few words to the children visiting from Denmark." 7. WHITE FLASH 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) DAUGHTER OF RAHMI KARADEMIR, MERAL KARADEMIR SAYING: "He stayed in the intensive care unit for a few days. When my mother came to visit, she said she couldn’t communicate with him. My four sisters, who speak Danish, were able to communicate with him more easily. But my mother and I couldn’t." 9. RAHMI KARADEMIR HAVING VIDEO CALL WITH HIS DAUGHTER IN DANISH LANGUAGE 10. RAHMI KARADEMIR SPEAKING (Danish) TO CAMERA AS HIS DAUGHTER ON PHONE TRANSLATES HIS SPEECH, SAYING "He understands both Turkish and Danish, but Turkish words don’t come to mind. He says, ‘Sometimes I don't remember Turkish words at all, but sometimes I do. Most of the time, though, I forget Turkish words. I can’t express myself.’" 11. RAHMI KARADEMIR LOOKING AT HIS SMARTPHONE AND CRYING SCRIPT: A 67-year-old Turkish man began speaking Danish -- a language he had not used in years -- after suffering a brain blood clot and receiving emergency treatment in central Türkiye, doctors and family members said Friday, Apr. 25. Rahmi Karademir, who spent two decades living in Denmark before returning to settle in Türkiye’s Konya province ten years ago, underwent knee surgery last week at the Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine Hospital. Two days after the operation, Karademir suddenly lost strength in his right arm and leg and developed speech impairment. He was rushed for evaluation, where doctors discovered a blood clot blocking a major vessel on the left side of his brain. Neurologists immediately performed an angiography and removed the clot. Following the successful procedure, Karademir’s symptoms significantly improved --but he could no longer speak Turkish. Instead, he began communicating in Danish, a language he had not spoken in years. His sudden switch in language startled his wife and children, some of whom speak Danish and were able to communicate with him more easily. Karademir said he understood Turkish but could not speak it, a situation that caused him considerable distress. “Sometimes I don't remember Turkish words at all, but sometimes I do. Most of the time, though, I forget Turkish words. I can’t express myself," communicating through his daughter Meral, who translated from Danish. “I understand Turkish, but I can’t speak it. I’m trying hard to recall. I hope it gets better. Danish is in my mind -- Turkish doesn’t come to me at all.” His daughter Meral Karademir said the family was shocked to hear him speaking Danish again. “Ten years ago, my father retired and returned here (to Konya) to settle down. During this time, he never spoke Danish—only a few words to the children visiting from Denmark,” she said. “He stayed in the intensive care unit for a few days. When my mother came to visit, she said she couldn’t communicate with him. My four sisters, who speak Danish, were able to communicate with him more easily.” Dr. Gokhan Ozdemir, who led the medical team treating Karademir, described the case as rare but explainable. "Such cases exist in the literature. In multilingual individuals, when there is a vascular occlusion or cerebral hemorrhage in the brain's language region, we sometimes see that patients can speak one or two languages while losing others," Ozdemir said. "However, this has one advantage: at least being able to speak one language provides a foundation for potentially relearning the forgotten languages later," the doctor added. Doctors expect him to gradually regain his Turkish speech ability in time, noting language recovery is possible.
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