Looking at old family photos, Taylor Smart seems to be looking into someone else's life. Now she is 18, and two years ago, as a result of the fall, the girl forgot everything about herself.
True, after the accident, she still recognized her relatives, but she had to re-study her life story. “I didn't recognize my friends, home and dogs. I was shown over again how to use cutlery, tie shoelaces and even write letters,”Taylor says. "I felt like I came here from another planet."
The girl has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, known as "skin hyperelasticity", which is fraught with the risk of easily getting a dislocated joint or damage to the skin. Taylor also suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which makes her prone to fainting and dizziness. Then she did not take any medication, and one day, losing consciousness, she fell, hit her head on the bath, and the memory simply disappeared.
Opening her eyes, the girl recognized her mother Jane, father Steve and two older sisters - Ashley and Becky. Jane recalls: “She was like a little child with his eternal why, where and what. Taylor knew she was hungry, but if I offered her a sandwich, she would not understand what it was. My daughter did not remember any holidays or birthdays. Somehow she burned herself on the frying pan, because she did not know that she could burn herself."
Part of it, Taylor's brain was intact. She can read and speak, but the girl has forgotten the names of many objects, foods, animals and places. Now she has to learn all over again. “When my mother and I went to the supermarket, it was, in general, funny. I asked her what this is, and what is it, and asked her to tell if I love this or that product?”Taylor shares. “But Christmas didn't go well. I was confused when I saw a huge tree in the living room."
But overall, it wasn't all that fun. The girl had to come to terms with this state of affairs, and for this she needed the help of a psychologist and relatives. Now she is gradually coming to her senses. Taylor overcame her fear of the school, where everyone knew her, but she did not recognize anyone and had to endure a daily barrage of questions. She managed to pass the exams, although she returned to class just three months before the tests, completely forgetting everything she was taught. Now Taylor is in college, she wants to work in the media industry. In the meantime, he works part-time at Topshop and learns to re-enjoy life and communication with other people. "I hated the accident that caused me to go through so many difficulties, but I tried my best."
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Memories gradually began to return to the girl, more often it is provoked by some smells or sounds. “Before Christmas I was in the store, it smelled of perfume, and I remembered that my mother had one. And she turned out to be right,”says Taylor. Nevertheless, doctors do not yet make predictions when her memory will fully return. On the Internet, Taylor's mother found only two similar cases.
In one of them, the memory returned to the girl three years later, in the other, the woman never restored it. Taylor says: “I got used to the idea that my memory will not return to me. But now I get a lot of new impressions and knowledge anew, and I want to experience and learn even more. Parents are proud of their brave daughter and hope that everything will work out in her life.
Vasily Borisov
