Louisiana grandmother who woke up one day thinking she was a TEENAGER speaks out after ‘blinding headache’ caused shock amnesia diagnosis that wiped 30 YEARS of memories
A Louisiana grandmother who woke up five years ago thinking she was a teenager in the 1980s said she is making the most of this Christmas because she has lost so many to her mysterious memory loss.
“I've lost a lot of Christmases, so it's a big deal,” Kim Denicola, 60, said of these holidays.
Five years ago last October, Denicola was leaving her weekly Bible study group in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when her vision suddenly became blurry.
After losing consciousness, Denicola woke up in the hospital, unable to remember the four decades since her last day of high school.
Mrs Denicola started feeling unwell shortly after leaving Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church.
A Louisiana grandmother who woke up five years ago thinking she was a teenager in the 1980s said she is making the most of this Christmas because she has lost so many to her mysterious memory loss.
“I've lost a lot of Christmases, so it's a big deal,” Kim Denicola, 60, said of these holidays.
Kim Harris Denicola (pictured) can't remember the past 30 years of her life after she blacked out in a church parking lot, but when she woke up she thought it was 1980 and she was only 18
When she woke up in the hospital, Denicola didn't even recognize her husband of 14 years, David Denicola, who is pictured on the right with his wife and her stepson Matthew.
“I called my husband and told him I had a really bad headache, one of those excruciating headaches that I don't know what to do,” she said.
'He told me not to drive and to ask one of the ladies to take me to the hospital.
“Apparently I went to my Bible study friend and said, 'Is there any way you can take me to the hospital?' and she did.”
Despite extensive tests and scans, doctors still can't explain what happened five years later, but they told her that if her memories haven't returned at this point, they probably never will.
She is now rediscovering things she loves, including the simple things that many take for granted.
The Baton Rouge native opened up WAFB 9 about how excited she was to fill the Christmas gift baskets for her relatives and discover all the treats and presents she had forgotten after her memory loss.
She also gets to know her family again, including her husband, children and four grandchildren.
In addition to rediscovering things she loved, Denicola is also fascinated by new modern technology, like the Alexa in her home that boggles her mind.
Denicola kept diaries throughout her life – which she has read since her amnesia to understand her life.
She says reading the diaries feels like peeking into someone else's life and not recognizing it as her own.
Not every memory is a good one — and the Baton Rouge grandmother grew frustrated and angry about tearing pages from the diaries.
Denicola gets to know her family again, including her husband, children and four grandchildren
She said the past five years have not been an easy journey, but insists she is making progress.
“I may have lost my memory, but guess what we're making new ones,” she said — adding that she makes the choice to keep going every day.
“You can't be angry and bitter because the good Lord left me here for a reason, and whatever that is, I'm sure he'll let me know one way or another,” Denicola said.
She believes she was put in her position by God to remind people that “you don't have to give up.”
Denicola said her Christmas dream is to have her entire family celebrate together under one roof again.
When she woke up at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge, the last thing Ms. Denicola remembered was her last day of school.
“I left school and was heading to my car,” she said. 'I had just taken my exams because I was finishing my last year.
“The nurse asked me, 'Do you know what year it is?' I said, “Yes ma'am, it's 1980.”
“She asked me who the president was and I said, 'Ronald Reagan.'
Concerned, the nurse picked up Mrs. Denicola's husband, who was crying because his wife did not remember who he was.
As well as not recognizing her own husband, Ms Denicola had no memories of her children Justin, 35, and Jonathan, 34, or her stepchildren Nicholas, 23, Megan and Matthew, both 19.
The last thing Ms. Denicola remembers is the last day of high school, walking to her car after an exam. She is standing in the back row, second from the left, and is 15 years old
She was also heartbroken to learn that her mother, Lucille Vickers, and father, Jay Harris, had both died years earlier.
“I felt lost,” she said. “I kept waiting for my mom and dad to show up. When you're 18, that happens.
“It just kept happening and they never showed up. I didn't know they had died. I couldn't remember any of my children. I didn't know my grandchildren.'
When Ms Denicola went to look in the mirror, she was shocked to see the reflection staring back at her after being convinced she was still a teenager.
“The awakening came when I went to the toilet and looked in the mirror,” she said.
'It wasn't the me I remembered. It involved a 56-year-old woman.'