A Denver teen knows nothing about music yet plays up to 13 instruments including the piano, guitar, ukulele and bagpipes. How? A concussion in the sixth grade helped him unveil this hidden talent.
Lachlan Connor, a high school junior, credits a concussion suffered in middle school for his current musical talent.
According to Lachlan's mother, Elsie Hamilton, he did not really have any musical talent. "I would say, 'Can't you hear what's next?' with something like 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' and he'd say, 'No,'" she told CBS Denver.
It all happened when Lachlan was in the sixth grade and passionately played lacrosse for his school team. But during one game, he sustained a head injury. "I fell backwards and hit the back of my head on the ground," Connors told the local news channel. "I remember getting up and feeling really dazed. I didn't really understand something bad had happened."
His parents took him to the doctors and after getting a nod from them to play again, Lachlan was back on the field. However, he sustained two more big blows to the head after which he exhibited serious change in his behavior. He was in the hospital for two weeks. "He started to hallucinate and had these mini hallucinations," Hamilton said.
Doctors then told this teen to stay away from contact sports. This came as saddening news to Lachlan. But, it is said that to gain something, you have to lose something. And that is when the teen realized musical talent within.
Now, Lachlan boasts of playing roughly 13 musical instruments that include ukulele, piano, guitar, mandolin and even bagpipes. He, however cannot read music, he plays it by ear. "Music is the thing that gets me up in the morning," Lachlan told KCNC.
According to Dr Spyridon Papadopoulos, the big blows to the teen's head were not small injuries. "The thought is just a theory - that this was a talent laying latent in his brain and somehow was uncovered by his brain rewiring after the injury. Clearly something happened in his brain and his brain had to recover from injury and change happened. And change may have uncovered this ability no one knew he had," Dr Papadopoulos told CBS Denver.
This is not the first case of a person developing musical skills after sustaining concussions. Last year, Derek Amato, who also is from Denver suffered from concussion after diving into a shallow pool. After this, he now can play eight musical instruments and is a master at playing the piano.
Watch Lachlan Playing Various Music Instruments:
