London - A mother who lost 14 years of memories in a car crash says she is slowly piecing her life back together.
Candace Emptage was unconscious for six weeks after a near-fatal car crash. When she woke, she believed she was 22 and the year was 1996. In fact, she was 36 and had to be told she was mother to a 14-year-old daughter.
When she opened her eyes and mistook an iPhone for a space-age gadget, it became clear her memory had suffered profound changes. She had forgotten some of the most important moments of her life - including the birth of her daughter, Maddie.
Emptage thought John Major was prime minister and that Princess Diana was alive. She had only a fleeting image of her daughter at the age of two and could remember nothing of her growing up, let alone recognise the girl standing next to her hospital bed.
Emptage, a former model, lost control of her Toyota MR2 and crashed into the path of an ambulance near Rowlands Gill, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, in September 2010. Firefighters cut her out of her car and she was airlifted to Newcastle General Hospital, where doctors, who put into an induced coma. Her parents were told to think about turning off her life support machine.
They were given a glimmer of hope when they noticed her daughter’s finger moving and, after an agonising six weeks for her family, she finally awoke.
Emptage, who on Thursday met the firefighters who saved her life four years ago and immediately recognised their faces, said she had had to retrace and relive almost all of her life. She was “baffled” when her family members first showed her how to use the internet. That confusion turned to embarrassment when she wrote a message about Michael Jackson - not realising he had died.
She said: “When they told me how old I was, I was just in disbelief. I wouldn’t believe them because I was convinced I was 22.”
Although she struggles with her speech and balance, Emptage, now 40, has learned to walk again and is even back on the road after passing a driving assessment.
Emptage, from Burnopfield, County Durham, added: “When memories do come back, they are very hazy. It is like looking through fog. It used to really upset me but I have just learned to deal with it.”
Daily Mail