Memory loss from cold? This is how a UK woman lost 20 years of her memory

A 43-year-old woman from the UK, Claire Muffett-Reece, has revealed that she lost 20 years of memories after procuring a very dangerous disease that started as a cold. One night in 2021, she went to sleep thinking she had a cold. The next day, she slipped into a coma for over two weeks. 

Claire lives in Essex, UK, with her husband Scott and their two sons, Jack and Max. She spoke about living with encephalitis or inflammation of the brain, which is why she lost her memory. 

During the interview, Scott spoke about how his wife had been suffering from a cold which she might have picked from their son Max, for around two weeks. Also, things were deteriorating and becoming worse with each passing day. 

In a report by Lad Bible, he said, “And then she went to bed the night before Father's Day, and in the morning, I couldn't wake her up. She then had a rush to the hospital, where she started seizing. And then they put her on a ventilator."

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The couple spoke about their harrowing experience on the TV show Steph's Packed Lunch on February 22, which happens to be World Encephalitis day. 

Initially, her condition was suspected to have been caused by a brain bleed. However, further tests revealed that she had encephalitis.

Claire explained how the memory loss made her forget several significant life events. While speaking to The Sun, she said,

"Though I knew I had children I loved and recognised, I couldn't remember giving birth, their birthdays, first days at school, their likes or dislikes."

"Thankfully, I remembered everyone I knew - I don't know how Scott would have coped if I'd thought he was a stranger."

She still cannot remember how Scott proposed. "It is kind of all or gone. It is horrible, I am not going to lie," she said. 

(With inputs from agencies)