• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Woman goes to hospital with headache and wakes up with no memory of past 30 years

Home> News> Health

Published 10:04 24 Dec 2023 GMT

Woman goes to hospital with headache and wakes up with no memory of past 30 years

The Louisiana grandmother can't recall getting married or welcoming her two children

Rhianna Benson

Rhianna Benson

When Louisiana grandmother Kim Denicola visited her local hospital after complaining of severe headaches in October 2018, she had no idea that her life would soon turn completely upside down.

She was attended to by medical staff after she also reported suffering blurry vision while at her Baton Rouge bible study group, but nothing too out of the ordinary was suspected.

It was only when Denicola woke up in the hospital emergency room some hours later that doctors would be handed one of the most complicated medical cases of their careers.

That's because when she awoke, the 56-year-old grandma claimed she couldn't remember anything from the last 30 years.

Advert

In fact, Denicola believed herself to be a teenager living in the 1980s when she came around in the hospital ward, and had no recollection of having gotten married to her husband or welcoming her two children with him.

Speaking to WAFB, Denicola - now 60 years old - claimed: "I’ve lost a lot of Christmases, so it’s a big deal.

Kim Denicola spoke to WAFB about her medical scare.
WAFB

"It’s unbelievable to me as it probably is to other people. Never in my wildest dreams did I get up and go to bible study and think I’m going to wake up in the hospital and I’m going to be 60 years old."

Advert

Upon waking up, Denicola was blown away to discover the invention of computers, and had no idea that her home country's leader has changed hands a multitude of times since the 1980s.

She recalled a nurse asking her: "'Do you know what today is, what year are you in?'. I said, 'Yeah, 1980.'

"And she said, ‘Can you tell me who the president is?’ I said, ‘Yes, Ronald Regan.’ And she stopped."

"TVs are now smart. The TV I remember was a box that sat against a wall that we had to get up and go change the channel," she continued.

Advert

Kim has been diagnosed with extensive amnesia.
WAFB

Following the baffling health scare, Denicola was subsequently diagnosed with extensive amnesia, known officially around the world as transient global amnesia, or TGA.

Doctors are still unable to determine the exact cause of her condition, however, despite having carried out extensive tests and scans.

According to the National Library of Medicine, TGA often occurs during periods of 'particularly strenuous activity, high-stress events, or coitus, but it can be seen with migraines'.

Advert

They add that the memory condition is often a temporary event and can reoccur, though death is extremely rare.

And five years on, Denicola has still not recovered any memories of the last 30 years, with medics being afraid they might never return.

The Louisiana grandmother can't remember any events from the last 30 years.
WAFB

"They told me, if by now I haven’t gotten it, then I probably won’t," she told the publication.

Advert

She's luckily rekindled her love for her husband, however, and watched her children grow up through her stories and pictures.

She told press: "I may have lost my memories, but guess what? We can make new ones."

Featured Image Credit: WAFB

Topics: Health, US News

Rhianna Benson
Rhianna Benson

Rhianna is an Entertainment Journalist at LADbible Group, working across LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She has a Masters in News Journalism from the University of Salford and a Masters in Ancient History from the University of Edinburgh. She previously worked as a Celebrity Reporter for OK! and New Magazines, and as a TV Writer for Reach PLC.

X

@rhiannaBjourno

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

7 hours ago
8 hours ago
  • Lester Cohen/WireImage via Getty Images
    7 hours ago

    Lionel Richie reveals savage nickname he had for Michael Jackson 'due to poor hygiene'

    It's not the first time claims around Michael Jackson's hygiene have been made

    Celebrity
  • gelda_waterboer/TikTok
    7 hours ago

    Teacher speaks out after clip of her singing 'these are my private parts' song to class goes viral

    Gelda Waterboer teaches her first graders to protect their bodies

    News
  • Montinique Monroe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
    8 hours ago

    Medical examiner's chilling update as potential serial killer fears grow after bodies are pulled from same lake in the space of three years

    Police in Texas have since spoken out to address the rumors

    News
  • Win McNamee/Getty Images
    8 hours ago

    Why Trump's controversial tariffs are 'hurting' the very Americans who voted for him

    Donald Trump has admitted on Truth Social there is currently a problem

    News
  • Tom Holland 'rushed to hospital' after Spiderman stunt goes seriously wrong
  • Teen wakes up from coma and uses sign language to tell mom a heartbreaking message
  • Most common warning signs that go unrecognized for years before heart attack revealed in new study
  • Woman who ate entire blocks of butter every day for the past 5 years shares surprising alleged bloodwork results