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A Chinese man who has been left with a memory that
lasts just five minutes has found the only way he can cope is to
continually write down every detail of his life in a precious notebook.
Chen Hongzhi, 25, from Hsinchu county, Beipu, suffered a serious head
injury in a car accident when he was a teenager which has left him with
virtually no memory, The People's Daily reports.
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He writes down everything - from the people he meets in the street to
the weather - as his injury means he has to start from scratch each day.
Chen suffered the severe brain injury in a car accident when he was 17
and spent months in intensive care in hospital.
While his body recovered, his memory loss is still so severe that he
often forgets things that happened between five and 10 minutes ago.
The debilitating condition also means that Chen cannot remember how to
write properly, so he makes notes in a phonetic 'scrawl' that mostly
only he understands.
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'This is my record, I write in it everyday, even if it is pouring down
with rain or if I don't go out to do the weeding I still l must write,
"Heavy rain",' he said.
'Whenever I get home from any time away I quickly grab my notebook and
write down important things from the day - who I've met, what I've done,
how much money I got from recycling bottles, all that sort of stuff.'
Every day when Chen wakes up, his mother, Wang Miao-chiong, must remind
him that he is no longer 17 and eight years have passed.
She hands him the notebook so he can read what has happened in his life
since the accident and check important details like who his friends are
and what needs to be done that day.
Chen's story has spread online in China after it was compared to that of
the fictional character played by Nicole Kidman in the film Before I Go
to Sleep. |
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His condition means Chen is unable to hold down a job so he raises a
small amount of money by walking several kilometres collecting plastic
bottles. Chen also collects wood that he and his mother use to make a
fire to cook their food.
His mother, 60, said the practical system has kept Chen going for years,
but she worries about what will happen to him after she has gone,
particularly given the recent death of his father.
They get by on donations from neighbours and friends in the tiny village
in northern Taiwan's Hsinchu County, who have given Chen the nickname
'short memory man' because he forgets having met them within 24 hours.
She said the family had initially hoped he would go back to school but
soon realised there would be little point.
'It had been planned that would go back to school but there was no point
as he could never remember the lessons, and has been living at home with
me ever since.'
The pair are totally dependent on each other, with Chen having his
mother there to reassure him about who he is and he, in turn, provides
the physical strength to earn the money and carry out the household
chores.
After the death of his father, he was forced to step up his bottle
collecting activities, where he was spotted by a traveller who was
fascinated by his story, and posted on social media where it quickly
spread.
Beipu village chief, Liu Chin-ting, said the family receives monthly
support from Hsinchu County's social welfare department, which is
helping the family to get by.
Welfare workers also make it a point to visit Chen and his mother during
festive holidays, he said.
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But Liu said he believes the boy could still have a future if there was
a medical facility that was prepared to take in and give him proper
physiotherapy and training.
He said: 'He needs to get some preparation because his mother won't be
there forever, and maybe they can get to the point where he can even
hold down a regular job'.
The family have been flooded with offers of people wanting to send money
but Chief Liu, who is helping to negotiate, said what they really need
now is is practical everyday donations like tissue paper, rice, salt and
soy sauce.
He said: 'Once the basics are sorted out, perhaps it might be possible
to look at taking the time to find something more for the mid-term and
long-term, but at the moment they just need to survive.'
Chen meanwhile is clearly happy, as his diary notes that kind donations
of money have been flooding in and he's very happy that people want to
help.
He knows he is destined to forget everything, but also knows that
nothing he can do about that except keep his sense of humour.
He said: 'I am reading here about all the people that want to give me
money, but I would say don't give me too much, because it looks as if
I'll probably forget where I put it all.'
In the film Before I Go to Sleep, 40-year-old Christine Lucas, played by
Nicole Kidman lives a life where she wakes up every day forgetting what
has gone on the day before.
In a remarkable similarity, she has to remind herself by writing notes
each day about what has happened to her since the car accident.
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