Car Crash Steals Welsh Fluency from Student

In November 2024, Ellis Pears, a 19-year-old law student at Aberystwyth University, suffered a concussion after his car flipped during an accident. Days later, he found himself unable to speak Welsh, a language he had always been fluent in. This unexpected linguistic barrier made him feel like a foreigner, severely impacting his ability to engage with his studies and social life.

Mr Pears experienced significant difficulties, including brain fog, anxiety, and panic attacks, which further hampered his concentration. He described being unable to comprehend lectures or even formulate basic sentences in Welsh. As his mental health gradually improved by June 2025, his Welsh language skills also began to recover, enabling him to function at a university level again.