I had a baby – then lost my memory, part 1
Lives Less Ordinary

I had a baby – then lost my memory, part 1

B1IntermediateJune 22, 202641 min

When Samina Ali gave birth to her first child in California in 1999, what should have been a joyful moment quickly turned into a medical emergency. An undiagnosed case of the pregnancy disorder pre-eclampsia led to multiple organ failure, strokes, a brain haemorrhage and grand mal seizure. Within hours of delivering her son, Samina fell into a coma. When she woke five days later, she had no memory of what had happened – or of large parts of her life. She didn’t recognise her husband, and she had no idea she had just become a mother. <p...

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they were doing there because I couldn't understand why they were all standing and staring at

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I remember waking up and seeing my mom and my dad and my brothers and asking them what they were doing there because I couldn't understand why they were all standing and staring at me. So I kept asking them, why are you here?

0:20

Why are you here? And what about your husband? I had no memory of my husband. I didn't have any memory of the recent years of my life.

0:34

Memories of getting married, memories of falling in love, memories of my life with my husband, memories of having given birth, memories of my son. All of that was erased.

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