A recent study by Headway found that 72 per cent of brain injury survivors feel that people in their life don’t understand their memory problems, with 81 per cent reporting that their life would be improved if people had a better understanding of this complex condition.
Karl Hargreaves, 49, is just one of those people battling severe memory loss following a brain injury.
He is sharing his story as part of Headway’s Memory Loss: A campaign to remember in order to raise awareness and increase understanding of life after brain injury.
Years of precious memories were wiped in an instant when the father from Lincoln was involved in a road traffic collision in 2015.
The memories of his girlfriend, the death of his mother and years’ worth of relationships – all gone in a split second.
He said: “Large chunks of my life were initially missing, and I was terrified that things would remain that way.
“All of my family relationships just didn’t exist in the same way in my mind. Some of them weren’t there at all. It was as if they had been erased.
“Perhaps the hardest thing to come to terms with was that in a sense, I did die. The old Karl, everything I was, died on that road in 2015.
“My memories, experiences, skills and abilities, all gone. I lost so much and I had to learn to let go and move on – I didn’t have any other choice but to start again from scratch.”
Karl is working to slowly piece his life – and memories – back together. His journey with brain injury began in 2015 when he was involved in a road traffic collision.
The driver of a car on the opposite side of the road had fallen asleep at the wheel and collided with Karl head on.
He was thrown from his motorbike, left unconscious and wasn’t breathing.
He was airlifted to a nearby hospital where immediate scans revealed a subarachnoid haemorrhage and subdural haematoma.
He was placed in an induced coma for the next five days and underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.
When he finally woke, he saw his ex-girlfriend Amy standing by his bedside – the only trouble was, Karl had no idea who she was.
He said: “I was told that when I woke up I didn’t recognise anyone around me, not Amy, not my family. “Eventually little snippets started to come back to me, and when I finally did remember who Amy was, I thought we were still together.”
Over time, some of Karl’s memories have returned, but he’s still trying to fill in the gaps he’s been left with.
He said: “Early on, whenever I felt stressed and couldn’t remember things, I looked at the photos of my family and friends on the wall and that would help me to remember who I was and remind me that I was safe.
“I never regained the memories of events immediately prior to or following the accident, and I don’t think I ever will. But distant memories in my past would sometimes return.
“I would often hear a piece of music that triggered a memory and I would associate it with what I had been doing, and suddenly another gap would be filled in.
“Every time it happened, it was a great comfort and helped me feel a little more connected to myself. “I think others underestimate the impact of losing memories and how it changes how you feel about yourself and who you are.”
