A man in the US suddenly became a painting genius after a traumatic brain injury, although before that he only knew how to sell cars and drink beer with friends. He is one of 33 rare cases recorded in the world.
Scott Mele , a car salesman in Wilmington (Noth Carolina, USA) had an accident at an intersection while driving at 112 km/h 4 years ago. The impact left Scott with a traumatic brain injury, falling into a coma, and being hospitalized for many long days.
Scott Mele feels like he’s living in a “second life” – (Photo: SCOTT MELE).
Four months later, Scott was fortunate to be out of danger, waking up alive but feeling “like someone in my body”.
A month after waking up, while taking the children to buy handmade school supplies, “something inside” made Scott Mele decide to buy himself a painting kit.
Returning home, the 38-year-old man suddenly discovered that he not only liked to draw but also drew very well, sensing colors very well even though he had never held a paintbrush before. He surprised his family and friends and gradually attracted the attention of the media.
Medical experts identified Scott Mele with an extremely rare syndrome called “savant syndrome” , otherwise known as “genius syndrome”.
It often occurs in cases of autism or experiencing a strong impact that leads to brain damage. Upon awakening, the patient suddenly had genius abilities in mathematics, literature, music, painting, or sculpture. Up to now, the whole world has only recorded 33 cases of Scott Mele.
In an interview with the press, Scott Mele self-identified as an isolated and “lowly talented” person, rarely seeing friends, life just revolves around buying and selling cars and playing with children.
“Everything around seemed to have been turned upside down after that accident. The former Scott disappeared and I started everything again when I was 38 years old, quite late compared to many others but that doesn’t matter. Life. My life is very good now that I can draw pictures and communicate and meet more people every day.”
Scientists have no explanation for why this happens, but believe such abilities may be hidden deep within all of us.
Some of Scott Mele’s paintings:
