Do you recognize Lucky? He had a stroke that greatly damaged the communication system in the brain.

This is “Lucky,” an unidentified man who suffered a serious stroke in Amsterdam in 2023. He collapsed in the road, and unfortunately had no identifying papers or anything else that could be used to get his name.

Some folks in the local Buddhist community recognized him as a man who went by “Lucky,” but they haven’t been able to get more than that.

Lucky is still alive. He’s in a care center, but his stroke was so severe that he sustained a serious neurological complication called “aphasia.”

Aphasia is when damage in the brain affects communication. Because aphasia is a neurological injury, there is such a broad spectrum into how it can affect people.

Aphasia can range from difficulty talking, to not being able to talk or comprehend language at all.

Lucky’s type of aphasia is pretty severe, which makes his nickname a bit ironic.

This is what the press has said about Lucky’s neurological abilities.

Let’s add a little bit of context into understanding aphasia and language in the brain.

Someone reading this might understandably come to the conclusion that you just need to get him some sort of device to get him to communicate, but it’s actually not that simple.

Something to keep in mind about aphasia is that this is damage to the brain’s “communication network”, and that network is vast.

Image Source: Cold Harbor Spring Laboratory’s 3D Brain Model

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There are many more pieces to the brain’s “communication network.”

It not a case of: You know language, or you don’t. You talk, or you don’t.

It’s not a light switch. It’s a handful of wires, and some of them are frayed or tangled.

This is also not the entire communication network, only two big pieces of it.

Lucky’s communication line is broken in multiple places, not just one.

Just because he can understand certain words doesn’t mean that he can understand all of them.

Lucky doesn’t have a locked-in-syndrome issue where he would be able to talk if he was given tools to do so, like Steven Hawking.

Chances are, he can use those two phrases to communicate basic needs, such as if someone asks him if he’s hungry or wants to get ready for bed.

He probably can’t communicate his name both because he’s lost the ability to say most words, and because he doesn’t understand that he’s being asked who he is/where he’s from.

That’s why authorities are asking the general public to help them identify Lucky when he can’t identify himself!

Do you know this man by chance?

If you recognize this guy, please give the authorities at Amsterdam a holler.

I’m sure Lucky’s family would like to know where he’s been at the very least.

Just another look at Lucky to see if he jogs a few memories.

Thanks for reading this!

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SOURCES CITED:

Lucky Article 1: https://nltimes.nl/2026/08/19/amsterdam-police-investigating-resemblance-unidentified-man-missing-canadian

Lucky Article 2: https://nltimes.nl/2026/08/22/amsterdam-police-6-missing-person-cases-may-help-unknown-injured-english-speaker

Lucky Article 3: https://nltimes.nl/2026/08/22/amsterdams-mysterious-lucky-remains-unidentified-canadian-theory-ruled

Cold Harbor Spring Laboratory’s 3D Brain Model: https://dnalc.cshl.edu/resources/products/3d-brain-app.html

More About Aphasia: https://aphasia.org/what-is-aphasia/