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Amnesia

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Norway amnesiac: Czech couple say he is their son
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26978006

The man speaks fluent English with an eastern European accent

A Czech couple have come forward to say that a man found in a snowdrift near Oslo last December apparently suffering from amnesia is their son, Norwegian police say.

His photograph was made public this week in an effort to help identify him.

Police suspect he may have been the victim of a crime.

Oslo police said media attention in the Czech Republic led police there to a couple who confirmed that the man in the photograph was their son.

In a statement, the police said they now be contacting the couple and attempting to verify the man's identity by comparing DNA samples.

'Drugged and assaulted'
A police spokeswoman quoted by the AFP news agency said that the man's disappearance had not been reported in the Czech Republic.

"The circumstances of his presence in Norway remain unclear," she said.

As well as Czech, the man speaks fluent English with a Slavic accent, according to earlier reports.

In an interview with Norwegian TV, he said he believed he had been drugged, robbed and sexually assaulted.

He added that injuries to his hands suggested he may have been tied up. However, he could not recall how he had ended up in Norway
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Peterborough 'mystery amnesia man' in identity plea

A man found almost two months ago with a "severe case of amnesia" has been described as "a complete mystery" by health workers trying to identify him.
"Robert" cannot remember any details of his life including his name, age or where he is from, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust (CPFT) said.

He was found in a Peterborough park early on 18 May and is thought to be in his 20s and possibly Eastern European.
The CPFT said they hoped someone could "help piece his life back together".

When he was found the man had no form of identification on him and doctors could find no sign of physical injury.
Dr Manaan Kar-Ray, clinical director of acute care at CPFT, said: "Robert appears to be suffering from a very severe case of amnesia.
"Amnesia can last for anything from a few hours to a number of weeks. It is now nearly two months since he was found and there has been no improvement in his condition.
"We have made strenuous efforts to help him with his memory, including taking him back to where he was found, but nothing has been successful so far."

Robert, as he has been named by clinical staff, is described as being in his early 20s, about 1.75m (5ft 9in) tall, and weighs 82.5kg (13st). He has dark hair and blue eyes.

He speaks English, but it appears to be a second language, the trust spokesman said.
He has an accent which is possibly eastern European and he understands some Lithuanian and Russian.

Cambridgeshire Police have confirmed the man is not known to them and so far and all attempts to identify Robert have failed, the CPFT spokesman said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ca ... e-28228585
 
Alvydas Kanaporis is Peterborough 'mystery amnesia man'

A "mystery man" found in a Peterborough park with a "severe case of amnesia" has been named five days after health workers appealed for the public's help.
For two months staff at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust (CPFT) have been caring for "Robert", who says he cannot remember details of his life.

A trust spokesman confirmed he was Alvydas Kanaporis, 22, from Lithuania.
The doctor treating him said Mr Kanaporis now faced a "journey" to regain his full memory.

People from around the UK got in touch after the trust put out an appeal to identify the man, who they named Robert.
Mr Kanaporis was found in a park in Peterborough in the early hours of 18 May, with no form of identification on him, no mobile phone and no signs of physical injury which might explain his memory loss.

He was believed to be from either eastern Europe or Russia and could understand some Lithuanian and Russian, a spokesman said.
The story was widely publicised in the Lithuanian media on Friday with one man naming him as Alvydas Kanaporis, a former multimedia student, and claiming to be his brother.
All information was shared with Cambridgeshire Police who had confirmed he was not known to them.

A trust spokesman confirmed Mr Kanaporis' family had contacted them, confirming his identity.
However, they did not know how long he had been in the UK.

Dr Manaan Kar Ray, clinical director of acute care at CPFT, said that his patient had "lost completely his entire autobiographical memory".
He said: "These are the building blocks of our existence, so he finds himself in a really distressing place at the moment."
He hoped identifying "Robert" would "help him piece his life back together".
"When we do get a name... or when we get leads, that will be the beginning of a journey for [him]," he said last week.
He described the length of time Mr Kanaporis had lost his memory as being "extremely rare".

The public response to the trust's appeal had been "tremendous" and having a name would "give our work with him a new focus", Dr Kar Ray added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ca ... e-28295919
 
Perhaps another fake, like piano man?
 
Mythopoeika, that was my first thought.

Are there any bona fide real cases? I don't mean where anaesthetic or a head injury makes you lose a few hours or days, or degenerative illness or aging takes more and more away.

Examples where an entire life is forgotten by someone apparently well in other ways?
 
A cluster of 14 sudden onset severe amnesia cases in Massachusetts from 2012 to 2016 - all involving similar patient profiles with drug abuse and diminished blood supply to both hippocampi, which is rare ...

Cluster of Mysterious Amnesia Cases Puzzles Researchers

More than a dozen people in Massachusetts suddenly developed severe amnesia, but there was no clear cause of their memory loss, leaving researchers puzzled about what exactly could have been behind these cases, according to a new report.

In the report, researchers describe a cluster of 14 cases involving people who experienced sudden amnesia, and who were treated in Massachusetts from 2012 to 2016. All of the patients were relatively young (19 to 52 years old), and all had either tested positive for drugs or had a history of substance abuse, according to the report. ...

Investigation of the current cases is ongoing, and health authorities need to continue to watch for more cases, to determine whether this new cluster "represents an emerging syndrome related to substance use or other causes," such as exposure to a toxic substance, the researchers wrote in the Jan. 27 issue of the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which is published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ...
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FULL STORY: http://www.livescience.com/57652-mysterious-amnesia-cluster.html
 
On Radio 4 now, most likely available online later -

The Woman Who Forgot Who She Was

Neuropsychologist Dr Paul Broks continues his detective hunt in search of the self. Today he considers a woman with amnesia, and asks: are we nothing more than our memories?

The philosopher John Locke argued this position, and it makes a kind of intuitive sense.

But talking to amnesia experts, he discovers that even people with severe memory loss often still retain their personalities; and that even people who seem to have forgotten everything about themselves may still have retained highly developed skills.

And, would we really be happy for our memories to be transplanted into another body and have this one destroyed?
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This especially interests me because I have experienced what happened to the woman mentioned in the title. Luckily it was only the once and lasted for a much shorter time. When she looked up her own name in her possessions, it was like she was talking about me!

My life was stressful at the time and I put it down to that, but since then other possible causes have occurred to me. I won't be seeing a doctor about it.
 
rynner2 said:
the case was similar to that of Clive Wearing, the British conductor and musician who became deeply amnesiac after contracting herpes encephalitis in 1985. Wearing can still play and conduct a choir despite having no recollection of his musical training, or much of his life before 1985.
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An astounding story: utterly sad, but strangely-inspiring....The Man With A Seven Second Memory

EDIT
@JamesWhitehead you may be particularly-interested in this story (in fact, it may already be fully-known to you)- I mean the musicology ability of Clive Wearing, both before/after his brain trauma, and all his amazing track record (puns intended) with the BBC / Radio 3


Wikipedia said:
Clive Wearing is an accomplished musician, and is known for editing the works of Orlande de Lassus. Wearing sang at Westminster Cathedral as a tenor lay clerk for many years and also had a successful career as a chorus master and worked as such at Covent Garden and with the London Sinfonietta Chorus.

In 1968, he founded the Europa Singers of London, an amateur choir specialising in music of the 17th, 18th, and 20th centuries. It won critical approval especially for performances of the Monteverdi Vespers. In 1977, it gave the first performance in the Russian Cathedral of Sir John Tavener's setting of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom with Roderick Earle as bass soloist, and subsequently made a recording (Ikon Records No. 9007). The Europa Singers also competed in the XXXII Concorso Polifonico Internazionale in Arezzo in 1984, and provided choruses for operas staged by the London Opera Centre, including Lully's Alceste and Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, which was performed at Sadler's Wells.

Wearing also organised The London Lassus Ensemble, designing and staging the 1982 London Lassus Festival to commemorate the composer's 450th Anniversary.

Whilst working at the BBC, Wearing was made responsible for the musical content of BBC Radio 3 for much of 29 July 1981, the day of the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer. For that occasion, he chose to recreate, with authentic instruments and meticulously researched scores, the Bavarian royal wedding which took place in Munich on 22 February 1568. The music by Lassus, Padovano, de'Bardi, Palestrina, Gabrieli, Tallis, etc., was performed by the Taverner Consort, Choir and Players, and the Natural Trumpet Ensemble of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, conducted by Andrew Parrott.
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Last edited:
(I'd forgotten I was the last person to have posted in this thread: how appropriate! And: I must remember to stop being so dilligent in my appending of new content onto appropriate existing threads, it just takes so much organic fun out of the forum experience....)

A tome which, of course, graces the bookshelves of many a Fortean follower is the famous Readers' Digest "Mysteries of the Unexplained" (a recent online straw-poll confirmed this: yes @gordonrutter this included you!)
rdmystery.jpg



One of my favourite entries in that book is this:
An extrordinary case of amnesia, covering a span of 40 years, was reported in 1927. Albert Mayfield, a British subject traveling aboard the steamer Siam, collapsed after bleeding from the nose and ears. When he regained consciousness, he knew himself as Albert Gureney of Rose, Minnesota- but his most recent memory was of a day when he was 14 years old and a schoolmate threw a rock that hit him on the head. According to the New York Times for July 16, 1927:

"Gurney had to be calmed when he saw his first airplane and he has never heard jazz. He is assured by people who met him before the collapse on the steamer that he talked several languages, but he does not know the, now nor does he know anything about his wife and two grown-up boys of whom he talked on the steamer"
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I was always fascinated by this tale, and have always promised myself to try and look into it a bit further. And I'm glad I did...

I tried researching through the New York Times archive, and after numerous challenges, I managed to locate (with inspired difficulty, and at cost) the following original source article:

Screenshot 2021-05-25 141332.jpg


There are of course all sorts of conventional schizophrenia / multiple personality scenarios that might offer an explanation here. Or even some form of deception. But we, as Forteans, would of course love this to be some form of reincarnation.

Or 'cuckoo possession' (I may have just invented that term). Or some gestalt collective consciousness cross-connection.....

I just had to post this..... what do we all think?
 
Ermintruder said:
(I'd forgotten I was the last person to have posted in this thread: how appropriate! And: I must remember to stop being so dilligent in my appending of new content onto appropriate existing threads, it just takes so much organic fun out of the forum experience....)

A tome which, of course, graces the bookshelves of many a Fortean follower is the famous Readers' Digest "Mysteries of the Unexplained" (a recent online straw-poll confirmed this: yes @gordonrutter this included you!)
View attachment 39887


One of my favourite entries in that book is this:


I was always fascinated by this tale, and have always promised myself to try and look into it a bit further. And I'm glad I did...

I tried researching through the New York Times archive, and after numerous challenges, I managed to locate (with inspired difficulty, and at cost) the following original source article:

View attachment 39889

There are of course all sorts of conventional schizophrenia / multiple personality scenarios that might offer an explanation here. Or even some form of deception. But we, as Forteans, would of course love this to be some form of reincarnation.

Or 'cuckoo possession' (I may have just invented that term). Or some gestalt collective consciousness cross-connection.....

I just had to post this..... what do we all think?
Click to expand...
It'd be interesting to have a follow-up to find out whether he ever regained his memory. The last thing known is he entered a workhouse infirmary in 1927 aged about 54. What happened subsequently? He had a wife & 2 grown up boys..
 
woman found on a rock in the sea with no memory of who she is.

She was first spotted, covered in blood, waving at a fisherman from the rock.

He then called for help, and a team of 14 people used 4x4s and walked two miles across jagged rocks on the isle of Krk in Croatia to rescue her.

She had no passport, papers, or phone and was reportedly dehydrated and emaciated.

Experts say she had managed to survive several nights, despite terrifying wildlife, including bears, prowling the island.

Officials said she was so weak she could barely take a sip of water.

It is said the woman speaks English "like a professor", although she cannot remember her own name.

One person told 24Sata, a local news site: "It's weird that she was looking in the area at all.

"It is an extremely inaccessible part of the bay with terribly sharp rocks - literally razors that cut the rubber on your shoes. There is no life or animals except maybe wild boars or bears which know how to swim to here in search of food, but this is a rarity because there is no food, nothing.

"A woman that age certainly could not swim that distance, it needs exceptional strength."
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1632056779558.png
 
hunck said:
woman found on a rock in the sea with no memory of who she is.

She was first spotted, covered in blood, waving at a fisherman from the rock.

He then called for help, and a team of 14 people used 4x4s and walked two miles across jagged rocks on the isle of Krk in Croatia to rescue her.


View attachment 45283
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Police in Croatia have identified her.

"Officers identified the woman as Daniela Adamcova, 57, from Slovakia. They said her identity was established after receiving numerous tips from Croatia and abroad. ... Croatian rescue services said she woman had spent a night at the sea shore and was found “exhausted and with light injuries and disoriented”.

Croatian media said the tip that revealed her identity came from the US where she reportedly lived until 2015 before moving to Ireland."

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/nat...tify-woman-found-memory-loss-adriatic-island/
 
I wonder why they said earlier she had a Scottish accent? Foreign accent syndrome due to a bump on the head or did her peripatetic lifestyle mix up her accent naturally?
 
Nosmo King said:
Police in Croatia have identified her.
"Officers identified the woman as Daniela Adamcova, 57, from Slovakia. ...
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This Daily Beast article provides a more detailed account of Adamcova's background and life, which seems to raise as many questions as it answers ...

Mystery Amnesia Woman in Croatia Was Once Described as a Hollywood Jeweler to the Stars
Updated Sep. 22, 2021 10:10AM ET / Published Sep. 21, 2021 9:25PM ET
Two Los Angeles residents have solved the mystery of Croatia’s Jane Doe—identifying the woman who was found wrapped in a sheet on a rocky island who spoke perfect English but did not know her own name.

Nina Smidt told The Daily Beast that the scratched-up woman pictured in photos that flashed around the globe this week was Daniela Adamcova, who had worked as an artisan at a company where she was a manager in 2015. She had been placed there by a non-profit that helps the homeless, Smidt said. Croatian police confirmed her identity and age as 57 on Wednesday.

The company was operating out of a warehouse known as Second Space in downtown Los Angeles, and landlord Tyler Madsen allowed the woman to live there rent-free so she could save up money to move to Ireland and get off Skid Row.

Years earlier, she had been profiled by a newspaper in her native Slovakia, which described her as a successful jewelry designer whose pieces were worn by stars including Brigitte Bardot and Diana Ross. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.thedailybeast.com/myste...krk-croatia-recognized-by-pair-in-los-angeles
 
I posted this a couple of years ago in the 'Timeslips' thread -

At the recent LAPIS conference we enjoyed Dr Rob Gandy's talk 'Memories are made of .....?'

Here's the blurb, with what I think is a particularly relevant bit in bold -

Rob Gandy will explore three areas of forteana that relate to memories. The first will be the ‘Mandela Effect’, which is a phenomenon where a large number of people have a false memory about an event or fact. He will then look at how transient global amnesia could account for some ‘missing time’ experiences, which those involved subsequently attribute to UFOs. Finally he will talk about ‘Cellular Memory’ and give examples of some of the strange changes that have happened to people who have received donor organs. Hopefully Rob’s presentation will be unforgettable!

Rob himself suffered a brief episode of transient global amnesia. He was at home, in his garage fixing a bicycle puncture, and went in to ask his his wife about something. He then suddenly forgot everything that had happened that day and his wife, thinking he was having a stroke or whatever, took him to hospital where various tests established that nothing was physically wrong.

Transient global amnesia was diagnosed - alarming but harmless - and his memory gradually returned.

If this happened to me I'd be loth to ask for help in case I lost my driving licence and livelihood on suspicion of having epilepsy. This has happened to people I've known, as I've described on here, and it makes me wary.
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Police seek help identifying man who does not know who he is

Police have renewed an appeal for help in identifying a man who was found in a seaside town more than three months ago and still cannot tell officers who he is or where he is from.

AA166cAT.img


The man, thought to be aged between 40 and 50 years old, was found in Weymouth, Dorset, on Wednesday September 28 2022.

Dorset Police said that he speaks with an eastern European accent and his first language is believed to be Latvian.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...s-not-know-who-he-is/ar-AA166AIT?ocid=BingHPC

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
Police seek help identifying man who does not know who he is

Police have renewed an appeal for help in identifying a man who was found in a seaside town more than three months ago and still cannot tell officers who he is or where he is from.

AA166cAT.img


The man, thought to be aged between 40 and 50 years old, was found in Weymouth, Dorset, on Wednesday September 28 2022.

Dorset Police said that he speaks with an eastern European accent and his first language is believed to be Latvian.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...s-not-know-who-he-is/ar-AA166AIT?ocid=BingHPC

maximus otter
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Identified but the police are not revealing his name.

The identity of a man who could not tell police who he was or where he was from has finally been established.

Dorset Police said the unnamed male, who appeared near to Weymouth's seafront in September, is a 43-year-old from Latvia. The force said a member of the public was able to supply information about his identity.

Police would not reveal what has happened to the man since. ...

The force would not reveal his name.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-64399975
 
Ermintruder said:
An astounding story: utterly sad, but strangely-inspiring....The Man With A Seven Second Memory

EDIT
@JamesWhitehead you may be particularly-interested in this story (in fact, it may already be fully-known to you)- I mean the musicology ability of Clive Wearing, both before/after his brain trauma, and all his amazing track record (puns intended) with the BBC / Radio 3
Click to expand...

This is an utterly remarkable case and I strongly recommend others to watch it.

I've had the conversations that go around in endless circles with my late-grandmother, but this case is far more extreme than even that.

And yet his personality shines through and the frustrated flares of temper have died away.
 
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