By Stephen Matthews Health Editor For Mailonline
Published: 18:15 GMT, 28 March 2019 | Updated: 18:15 GMT, 28 March 2019
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When Fraser Watt woke up from a coma after a horrific car accident, doctors were delighted.
But their elation rapidly turned to confusion when he opened his mouth and they realised he could only speak Malay.
For Mr Watt, who was 24 at the time of the crash that almost killed him, had lived in Scotland for nearly two decades.
Mr Watt, now 60, spoke Malay and Chinese as a child due to growing up in Borneo because of his civil engineer father's line of work.
When Fraser Watt woke up from a coma after a horrific car accident, doctors were understandably stunned. But they grew even more baffled when he opened his mouth and realised he could only speak in Malay
Speaking of his ordeal in 1983, which lasted only 24 hours, Mr Watt said: 'Everyone was stunned when I spoke Malaysian.
'So was I because, although I was fluent as a child, I hadn’t spoken Malaysian for 19 years before the crash.
'My mum was at my bedside so she could translate for the doctors until the end of the day when my English returned.'
Mr Watt returned to Scotland in the 1970s and later gained a degree in chemistry and biology at Abertay University in Dundee.
Mr Watt, who was 24 at the time of the crash that almost killed him, had lived in Scotland for nearly two decades
Mr Watt, now 60, spoke Malay and Chinese as a child due to growing up in Borneo because of his civil engineer father's line of work
He was driving home one night, on a road between St Andrews and Dundee, in 1983 when a tractor pulled out in front of him.
Despite wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, he broke through the windscreen and