Peter spoke his first words in four years. This fact became the basis of a fascinating piece on the BBC about a man who experienced aphasia after a stroke and miraculously started speaking again four years later after another stroke.
The couple are convinced that this second stroke somehow “dislodged” something in Peter’s brain – something that had stopped him talking after the first stroke. However, Alex Leff, a professor of cognitive neurology and an expert in the recovery of language after stroke and brain injury, offers little support for this theory.
Unlike many people who experience aphasia after a stroke, Peter’s inability to speak wasn’t immediate. It was a gradual fading away of language over a few weeks. Also unlike many people with aphasia, he had no difficulty with reading or writing, just speaking. He could understand all spoken words; he just couldn’t form them. Peter was able to give a thumbs up or thumbs down for “yes” or “no.” Plus, he could write out longer thoughts using a pad and pencil.
You can listen to a longer interview with Peter and his wife by clicking the image below. It is the first segment of a longer news show:
This is all we were able to find online about this amazing story. Hopefully, there will be follow up articles in the future.
Image: Rawpixel via Unsplash