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Mum, 32, Wakes Up Thinking She’s 15 – And Forgets She Has A Son

Naomi Jacobs lost 17 years of her life after developing a rare form of amnesia

A mother-of-one suffered a rare form of amnesia that caused her to lose 17 years of her life.

Naomi Jacobs, 32, woke up in 2008 believing she was a 15-year-old girl ready to sit her GCSE exams, thinking it was 1992.

Naomi Jacobs woke up one morning thinking she was 15 years old [Caters]
Naomi Jacobs woke up one morning thinking she was 15 years old [Caters]

She had no idea she was actually living in the 21st century - and was terrified to find out she was mum to an 11-year-old boy who she didn't even recognise.

Doctors told Naomi that her body had been under so much stress that part of her brain had simply closed down - erasing memories of most of her life.

She was left baffled by modern technology including mobile phones and the internet and it’s taken three years for Naomi to adapt to living in the ‘future.’

Naomi Jacobs pictured at the age of 15 - how old she thought she was when she woke up [Caters]
Naomi Jacobs pictured at the age of 15 - how old she thought she was when she woke up [Caters]

"I fell asleep in 1992 as a bold, brassy, very confident know-it-all 15-year-old - and woke up a 32-year-old single mum living in a council house,” she said.

"The last thing I remember was falling asleep in my lower bunk bed, dreaming about a boy in my class.

"When I woke up, I looked in the mirror and had the fright of my life when I saw an old woman with wrinkles staring back at me.

"Then this little boy appeared and started calling me mum - that's when I started to scream.

"I didn't know who he was - I didn't think he was much younger than I was, and I certainly didn't remember giving birth to him.

"I began sobbing uncontrollably.

"To say I was petrified was an understatement. I just wanted my mum. I couldn't get my head around going to bed one night and waking up in a different century.

"It has taken three years of hard work to piece most of my memory back together - and it just helps me to appreciate all I have."

The teenager suffered what is known as Transient Global Amnesia [Caters]
The teenager suffered what is known as Transient Global Amnesia [Caters]

Naomi - who was a psychology student before her memory loss - was told by doctors that she was suffering from Transient Global Amnesia - a form of memory loss brought on by stress.

The "episodic" part of her memory had completely shut down - meaning she had lost all her emotional memories.

But her semantic memory was still intact - meaning she could remember things she had repeated over time – such as learning how to drive and phone numbers she called regularly.

Slowly, Naomi began the difficult task of trying to piece her life back together - and ploughed through years of diaries and journals trying to discover what had happened to the 15-year-old girl she remembered.

Naomi Jacobs forgot she had an 11-year-old son [Caters]
Naomi Jacobs forgot she had an 11-year-old son [Caters]

"At 15, I thought I would have conquered half the planet by the time I was 32,” she said.

"It was a massive shock to discover I was just an ordinary, single mum, living in Manchester and driving a battered old Fiat Brava.

"My best friend and sister had to take over all communication for me - I had no idea how to work my mobile phone, and had no concept of email.

"For the first few months, I was desperately trying to make sense of my life. At night, I'd lie awake and cry, longing to be back at school, when all I had to worry about was the boys I had crushes on and getting caught drinking in the park."

Doctors warned her that although most sufferers regained their memory in a few hours, Naomi's case was so severe it would take months for her to recover.

Naomi was told not to read newspapers or force herself to remember anything to cause her brain even more stress - but with the help of her family, Naomi began the slow road to recovery.

"At first, I struggled to leave my home, and venture out into the world - but slowly, with the help of my family, I started to get used to the world again,” she said.

"It wasn't fun, like Michael J Fox in Back To The Future - I'd fallen asleep in a world of endless possibilities and woken up in a nightmare.

"But my best friend and my sister sat me down and painstakingly explained 9/11, 7/7, the War on Terror.

Naomi Jacobs with a schoolfriend when she was a teenager [Caters]
Naomi Jacobs with a schoolfriend when she was a teenager [Caters]

"In my mind, John Major was still the Prime Minister - and the only President Bush I'd ever heard of was George Snr.

"Facebook, Google and YouTube sounded like they were completely made up - and the first time I saw my son, Leo, play on his X-Box and interact with the TV, I was so shocked I spat out my tea.

"Luckily, I had always kept diaries and journals, and I ploughed through them all, trying to make sense of who I was. It was like reading about a stranger at first.

"I tried to keep most of my memory loss from my son, Leo - even thought I had to build a new relationship with him, I didn't want him to feel as confused as I was.

"I used my diaries to question my life decisions - why I'd studied psychology, and why I was a single mum - and it helped me to understand and remember.

"Over time, flashes of memory have come back to me - just for a few seconds, but they were there.

"The most recent memories came back first, and then the older ones - until my full memory has returned.

"Although it was traumatic, I'm really grateful for being thrown forward through time now.

"I've been able to follow my childhood dream of becoming a writer - and am currently writing my story.

"Not many people get a chance to get a second chance like I did - and my life has turned out perfectly."

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