Melbourne man who woke from coma speaking fluent Chinese finds love on Chinese dating show

The Melbourne man who started speaking fluent Chinese after waking up from a coma has found love on the Chinese dating show “If You Are The One.”

Ben McMahon met Sydney lawyer Feng Guo in the hit show, which shot two special episodes featuring Australian contestants. He was one of the 10 men and 16 women who travelled to Nanjing, China, for the episodes. The first special episode aired Sunday night on SBS2 in Australia.

“I thought I’d put myself out there and find out if I was the one,” he told the ABC radio.

It turned out he was the one for Guo. He beat other male contestants for the lawyer’s heart. He had 45 minutes to sell himself on stage to 24 women, who weren’t shy in giving critiques, hurtful or otherwise. As the male candidates attempted to impress, the women either continued to listen to them or showed their disinterest by turning off the light on their podium. Those whose light was still on meant they were still interested with the candidate.

McMahon’s pitch worked for Guo. They ended up together and are now attempting a long-distance relationship.

“It’s a good insight into Chinese culture and just some of the crazy things that go on and the requirements [Chinese people have] for relationships,” McMahon explained.

The entire show was in Chinese with English subtitles for Australian viewers. McMahon’s participation in it wouldn’t have been possible four years earlier when he still couldn’t speak Chinese fluently. It took a car accident and a week spent in coma for him to speak the language like a native.

He learned Mandarin in high school and went backpacking in Beijing after graduating. When he returned to Australia in 2012, he got in a serious car accident, falling into a coma for a week. He woke up and saw a nurse of Asian appearance.

“Hi, it really hurts here,” McMahon asked the nurse in Mandarin. “What happened to me?”

He would think and dream in the language as well. After the accident, he found himself lapsing into Mandarin when speaking with his English-speaking friends and family. He realised that Chinese would play a big part in his life.

“In Chinese, there is an idiom that goes along the line of, ‘From a tragedy comes something great,’” he told the ABC radio. He now wants to dedicate his life creating better cultural communication and understanding between China and Australia.