Woman Who Forgets What She Is Doing Every 20 Minutes

Jenny Has A Rare Brain Bug ...

A WOMAN has been left with a memory similar to that of a goldfish after being struck with a rare brain condition.

Jenny Grieve, 22, forgets what she is doing every 20 minutes and has to write notes to remind herself.

These include that she has brushed her teeth and hair, eaten her breakfast, taken her medication and texted her mum.

She walks away with taps running after forgetting she turned them on and leaves cups of tea she cannot remember making.

Jenny was hit by a form of brain bug encephalitis in August 2014 on holiday in Luxembourg. She woke up in hospital convinced it was 2010, with no idea how to eat, drink or walk and convinced she had only just started dating long-term boyfriend Martin Fudge, 23.

Jenny, from Bournemouth, said: “Because it caused my brain to swell it damaged my ability to remember things. Now I write everything I do down.”

The NMDA-r strain of encephalitis was first identified in 2007.

Jenny’s mum Lorraine, 49, said: “For weeks Jenny had been acting unusual. She kept forgetting who people were and would cry or laugh for no reason.

“It was as though a switch had been turned off in her brain.

“We have no doubt she wouldn’t be here if she was left undiagnosed for much longer.”

Some patients gradually recover their memory but in many cases the effects last for ever.

The Encephalitis Society’s Dr Ava Easton said: “Encephalitis is a thief, robbing families of their loved ones or the person they once knew.”

In the 2000 film Memento, lead character Leonard Shelby has a similar condition. He writes himself hundreds of notes to help catch his wife’s killer as he cannot store memories.