Man loses memory, refuses to recognize wife, daughter

A 37-year-old man lost his 20 years of memory after he woke up one day, considering that he was still 16 and had to go to school, forgetting that he had a wife and a daughter.

Daniel Porter, a hearing specialist, from Granbury in the US state of Texas, woke up in his bed just like any other morning in July last year, only something was wrong. He thought he was 16 and it was time to go to school.

When he looked at himself in the mirror, he asked why he was “old and fat”.

According to details, his wife, Ruth, had to calm him down and explain that she was his wife and that he had not been kidnapped by a stranger.

Luckily, the couple had moved into his parents’ home and they helped her convince him that Ruth was telling the truth. Still, he didn’t even recognize his 10-year-old daughter, Libby, and was afraid of their two dogs.

Daniel had lost all memory of the education he got after high school so he had to quit working as a trained hearing specialist.

Doctors diagnosed that he was suffering Transient Global Amnesia, a sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory. They don’t know exactly what triggered Daniel’s severe amnesia, but they suspect that it was a side-effect of emotional stress.