Women who lose complete memory every few minutes | 60 Minutes Australia

[Music] for the Caird family of brisbane this holiday last Christmas was the trip of a lifetime two and a half weeks in Europe skiing sightseeing and party do you remember the holiday Nicole where did we go but it's a holiday Nicole care just can't remember even when her husband Brad plays these home videos and you stopped and you were so excited to me how did you except for that at Christmastime that was Christmas Day Boxing Day Boxing Day we did that Boxing Day last year just over 12 months ago large chunks of Nicole's memory were wiped out after the very common cold sore herpes virus attacked her brain unlike Alzheimer's disease though Nicole's brain won't deteriorate but right now even her new memories only last minutes what is your sense of what's happened to you and not a lot really confusion is what I have don't know why and I just can't remember a damn thing [Music] are these your children well I think yes they must be my friends my children and their friends it's been six and a half years since Claire Robertson's brain was also hit by the cold sore virus it wiped her memory - and incredibly all memory of faces including her own yeah these people recognize it I think that's me visiting it's not me as well Claire was just 43 when she lapsed into a coma after suffering what she describes as flu-like symptoms you woke up to a new life yes it's a complete confusion I didn't know where I was who I was you didn't recognize your family no your husband no your children no [Music] for most of us this is an experience of a lifetime riding high over London in the city's iconic eye but to give you an idea of just how dreadful this syndrome is for most sufferers this would virtually be a waste of time you see it takes about 30 minutes to complete the journey so by the time it reaches the bottom for most sufferers not only would they have forgotten who they were with many would have even forgotten taking the ride we say to people what's happened really is you've sustained an injury to the brain just in the way that you would in a car accident except you didn't have the car accident either Eastern hits the UK's in kept a lighter Society world's biggest support group for people like clear in the cold and careful itis means inflammation of the brain and in their cases the herpes simplex virus made a direct attack on their brain tissue and the difficulties they're experiencing now is as a result of the injury to the brain that was caused by the virus damaging the nerve cells in the brain Claire is married with four children before her illness she worked as a nurse losing nearly all memory of her life has been devastating I was able to do and be a nurse and mum and friend and daughter wife I was happily doing all these things and the whole loss of that whole feeling of any sense of reality about myself has been awful it's quite shocking really it's like your previous life was raised I do feel left out of my own life no sense of belonging to it it's something that's happened and I don't know about it [Music] now I wear a nametag to help you identify me yes for edits his Nicholas Tse yes these little shark's tooth necklace that he wears all time aired is Claire's husband of more than 20 years I know now but this is Ed but if he's you know away a second later over the other side of the room and there's other people I don't know who he is at all but I can see the necklace and I know to be confident and certain that it's in people might find that extraordinary because clear is your wife but your face is not necessarily the the feature that she's just as well it is extraordinary it is extraordinary how did you start again because there is this shared history that's gone there wasn't a way of doing it we just sort of carried on it there's definitely an element of having to rebuild a relationship with somebody because those things have changed those shared memories have changed or disappeared so yeah you have to you have to rebuild that and I we still are friendships also have to be constantly rebuilt for those Claire relies on this book every friend is listed with a description of how she knows them just in case they call or drop him what are you gonna cook for tea tonight Nicole Nicole cared is having to start again to with a carer from open minds reminding her how to complete daily chores a task made all the harder when your memory is always being erased mr. dad you remember what the skewer yeah [Music] hang on Oh goodies give us some yay can you cook Oh to be honest I don't think I've tried I used to well I don't know I have em I come on Nicole desperately relies upon bread to fill in the blanks a memory loss that includes significant events do you remember getting married I know that I am married but I can't create a visual if that's what you yeah do you remember your children being born I know that I've got children and I can picture them but again I can't visualize the day of the event that makes sense you don't remember giving birth no no when you look at your mum what do you feel I guess sadness because she's not there anymore like she looks the same but she's just not there inside oh well done Nick oh okay 14 year old Jessica is struggling with losing the mother she knew do you feel like you've lost the connection with your mum um yeah because she doesn't really remember what the connection was or if we had one but yeah she's it's differently it's they're like very far in the distance birds yeah it's definitely lost if there was one memory you'd like to have back what would it be the girls as babies those big events and their first steps and yeah then as they're growing up you know their first day at school that's riding the bike at first kind of football just yeah things like that 40 minutes into our interview it was clear Nicole was also unsure why I was talking to her have you forgotten us I've forgotten who you are but I know I've forgotten your names but I know you're from a gnome place that makes sense where are they 60 minutes our 60 minutes Wow I experienced the same moment in London in the few minutes I'd stepped away from Claire Robertson and her friend she too had forgotten me sorry but this time it's very possible that when Claire gets home she will remember this small camera she wears around her neck is recording her every move there's memories in there with unlocking them yes I see yeah which is what this is so good at [Music] this sin scam as it's known has recorded her day with us it's technology researchers believe can trigger memories every 20 seconds it captures a picture which cleared downloads at the end of the day you can rewind your day rewind the day it's not going to be a cure is it but it can really make a difference yes it's helped me hugely I can now think through visualized days and events that I've done I've seen over and over again on the cent scam computer the strong feeling is the sense of security they're mine my memories are my own they belong to me and I've got them and it's this scan of Claire's brain that makes researchers believe it works this is Claire's brain when trying to remember things that haven't been recorded by the sense cam compared to this the brain literally lights up when remembering events she has seen on the sin scan it's absolutely amazing and it makes significant difference in people's lives and over periods of time that revisiting the images with Sens camp actually to some degree does enable them to to relive those moments in a way that just writing notes handwritten notes doesn't allow you to do it's the research Nicole and her family need to hear they're still trying to pick up the pieces left by an illness that seems very cruel indeed what are your dreams what are you hoping for just to be the person that I was do you think that can be yeah so you try thing could I see if I refer got we yeah but Nicole can take heart from people like Claire six years on clear has made real progress and there are now signs that not everything has been lost have you been able to reconnect with your family yes Angela's yes yes but I've had a sort of real more recent occasional feelings of a real sense of belonging and it was only last week I think I remembered now I've forgotten what it was but remembered something that he used to there made him happy and that was but now I remember the warmth the whole feeling of security and lovely feeling that's me and Ed hello I'm Tara brown thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 483,547

Rating: 4.8521671 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Ray Martin, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Peter Harvey, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo, memory, memory loss, alzheimer's, forgotten, medical mystery, medical miracle, strange, science

Id: qCtd_bqIBoM

Length: 14min 19sec (859 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 15 2019