50 FIRST DATES

Rushed to St George’s Hospital, I was taken for a CT scan and blood tests.

I sat in the hospital bed, unable to get any of my words out.

All my memories had been wiped clean – I didn’t know who I was, where I came from – nothing.

I couldn’t even recognise my own parents.

Mum had told me who she was, and although I had no recollection of her, she seemed like a nice lady, and I figured she must be right.

‘Who are you?’ I asked when my dad walked in.

He looked at me in astonishment.

When the CT scan ruled out a stroke, doctors feared I had encephalitis – a rare but serious condition which causes inflammation of the brain.

I was petrified – I was surrounded by