World of the Bizarre

Injured solider woke up to find that he could see the world in reverse

By T.K. Randall
May 23, 2023 ·  8 comments

Brain injuries can produce anomalous perception. Image Credit: Pixabay / blueberrykings111 The 25-year-old, who is referenced in records only as 'Patient M', was hospitalized after being shot in the head during the Spanish Civil War in 1938.

Incredibly, despite the fact that the bullet clearly passed straight through his head and out the other side, the soldier actually survived the ordeal, but what made the case particularly intriguing was the fact that, upon waking up, he found that everything was now backward.

According to neurologist Dr. Justo Gonzalo Rodríguez-Leal who documented the case at the time, Patient M had lost much of his eyesight and what little of it remained seemed to be in reverse, with people and objects appearing on the opposite side of his field of vision.He could read numbers and letters both forward and backward, while perceiving things in duplicate or triplicate with colors sometimes appearing outside of the objects to which they belonged.

In one case, he described seeing men walking upside-down on a scaffolding, while in another he was able to read a newspaper with ease regardless of which way round it was.

He remained a subject of medical intrigue for many years and, despite the injury he sustained, lived for several decades until his death in the 1990s.

Source: Live Science | Comments (8)

Tags: Brain