Man found in California motel awakens with amnesia
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Four months after he was found unconscious in a Palm Springs, Calif., motel, doctors are looking into the mystery of a Florida man who awoke with no memory of his past and speaking only Swedish.
Michael Boatwright, 61, woke up with amnesia, calling himself Johan Ek, The Desert Sun (http://mydesert.co/145PNGw) reports. Boatwright was found unconscious in a Motel 6 room in February. After police arrived, he was transported to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs where he woke up.
Hospital officials said Boatwright may have been in town for a tennis tournament in the Coachella Valley. He was found with a duffel bag of exercise clothes, a backpack and tennis rackets. He also carried four forms of identification — a passport, a California identification card, a veteran's medical card and a Social Security card — all of which identified him as Michael Thomas Boatwright.
Palm Springs police have documented his information in case anyone lists Boatwright as missing or wanted, authorities said.
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He has no income or insurance, further complicating his treatment at Desert Regional. And he has little money he can access — only $180. He also has a few Chinese bank accounts, but can only access one account, which holds $7, according to the newspaper.
Doctors don't know how much longer he will be able to stay at the center — aside from his amnesia, Boatwright is in good health. The hospital is currently looking for alternatives that would keep him off the streets. For now, Boatwright is unsure of both his past and his future.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/man-found-california-motel-awakens-amnesia
US motel coma man was Swedish 'knight': society
A man found unconscious in a California motel room who left US authorities baffled when he woke up only speaking Swedish, has been identified by a member of a Swedish medieval society as one of their kin.
US motel coma man wakes speaking Swedish (15 Jul 13)
"I first met him when we were both members of a Middle Ages association called the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) in the 1980s. He went by the name of Strongbow," Johan Cassel of the SCA told The Local on Monday.
Cassel explained that the man identified in US and Swedish media reports as Michael Boatwright spent several periods living in Sweden before they lost contact in the late 1990s, adding that Boatwright learnt to speak Swedish fairly well.
"He could speak pretty good Swedish, although you could hear that he came from an English-speaking country. He had an accent," Cassel said.
The SCA is an international association that brings together people with an interest in the Middle Ages and members typically engage in range of activities, such as jousting. According to fellow member Olle Sahlin, Boatwright was active in the SCA's European chapter and was an early member of the Swedish Jousting Team.
"He organized a jousting exhibition for Saab and Scania's anniversary in 1985. I was one of the extras clad in a costume from the Middle Ages," Sahlin told The Local.
http://www.thelocal.se/49074/20130715/
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