Woman's Amnesia Means She Never Leaves the Year 1994

Michelle Philpots never leaves the year 1994.

The British woman has anterograde amnesia, caused by head injuries she suffered in two vehicle crashes more than 20 years ago, MyFoxPhoenix reported.

Profiled during a recent interview on the "Today Show," Philpots said she wakes up every morning thinking it is 1994, which is the last year she can fully remember.

"Right at the beginning for me, it was heartbreaking, knowing that I was different," she said. "I didn't want to be different."

Anterograde amnesia, caused by traumatic events such as a car crash, allows the brain to remember past events but can recall more recent items.

Philpots' condition was caused by a 1985 motorcycle crash and made worse by a serious car crash five years later. She was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1994 as she started to become more forgetful, leading her to lose her office job when she copied the same document repeatedly during her shift.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1.7 million people in the United States sustain a traumatic brain injury each year through causes such as car crashes. Such injuries can range from mild, such as a brief change in mental consciousness, to severe such as an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia.

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