We’ve all read stories and seen TV pieces about people who survived horrific accidents, but were left wholly changed by it physically. In that vein, the story of Carlos Rodrigues takes the cake.

Quora

Carlos didn’t always look like that – he was a regular person with a full head until the age of 14. However, after an alcohol and drug binge, he stole a car, got into an accident, and went flying through the windshield.

Dailymail

Carlos smashed his head on the asphalt, and doctors consequently had to remove a significant portion of his skull and brain to save his life. Thus, he became the man with literally half a brain.

He told Belle News,

I was with a cousin and a friend stole the car, there was a near-fatal car accident. I was barred out on drugs. I was driving and I hit a pole and flew out the front window and landed on my head,

Newinki

Despite the procedure, he retains most of his mental functions, and can do pretty much everything a man with a full head and brain can do.

One theory for why there was not much impairment in his memory and cognitive ability is because of brain plasticity and the young age at which this happened. If someone gets a portion of the brain removed in their youth, the remaining areas adapt and stand in for the missing parts, so the person functions fairly normally.

CNN

However, he’s had his fair share of run-ins with the law over the years. In 2016, he was arrested for attempted murder after he set his mattress on fire, which endangered the lives of two neighbors. 

In 2010, he was also arrested for soliciting a prostitute. In fact, the mugshots from this arrest went viral, and many people thought the whole thing was a hoax. But it turned out to be true, after he posted a rambling video talking about his life.

While the actual extent of the damage done to his brain due to the accident might never be known, it’s truly incredible what the human brain is capable of.

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