STRANGER THAN SOAP OPERA: Amnesiac Florida Man Wakes Up Speaking Only Swedish

Amnesia has been a soap staple (some would say a soap cliche) from the early days of the genre. But as we proved in our "Soaps on the Street" segment Real versus DAYS OF OUR LIVES, life can be much stranger than fiction. And not everyone can tell which is which.

On February 28, a Florida man woke up in Palm Springs, California, with no memory of his past and speaking only Swedish.

Four pieces of identification the man carried indicated that his name was Michael Thomas Boatwright. But the man couldn't remember his name and didn't recognize his own face on his California ID. He believed his name was Johan Ek and spoke only Swedish.

Today, more than four months later, Boatwright’s caretakers know a bit more about their patient — he was probably born in Florida, is a veteran and spent some years in Sweden during the 1980s — but Boatwright reportedly still doesn't remember much about his past and still isn't speaking English. He remains hospitalized while medical staff figure out how to release him safely into the world.

Doctors call the phenomenon transient global amnesia, which is triggered by physical or emotional trauma and can last for months.

If they ever turn this real life story into a movie, GENERAL HOSPITAL head writer Ron Carlivati needs to be involved and, of course, Roger Howarth will star. Let's just how Johan is not the mysterious "J" who is Sam's father.