York teen suffers almost total memory loss

Sam Tai, 17, from Fulford, is suffering from global amnesia, which seems to have been triggered by a concussion he received while playing rugby. His condition is similar to the syndrome suffered by Drew Barrymore's character in the 2004 film 50 First Dates.

His mum Jane Tai said: "He has a few random memories that pop up, but he can't really remember anything from birth.

"Sometimes he remembers people he has been in constant contact with like his girlfriend Elly, but even then it's very patchy."

Sam suffered his memory loss on March 27 following a concussion while playing in a junior rugby union match for York and was taken off the field.

Mrs Tai said: "He put in some big tackles playing rugby. After the second one, he was a little bit unsteady on his feet.

"He passed his pitch side concussion test and seemed fine, but then later that night he lost all of his memory.

"On the Monday he had a scan, but it looked fine. I took him back the following Monday to see the GP.

"She spoke to a neurologist and he was taken for an MRI straight away.

"That didn't show anything either. He is due to see the neurologist again this Friday."

Mrs Tai added: "The doctors have just said we need to wait, which is frustrating.

"They are hoping that his memory will come back, but there's no guarantee.

"I seem to remember his consultant saying that he hadn't come across this before, certainly not to this extent."

As the sport mad teenager tries to cope with his amnesia, his ability to remember a karate routine has given Sam's family and friends hope.

His mum explained: "Sam, is a black belt in karate. His instructor, Dave Cartawick, came up to visit him last Thursday to see if he could help.

"They were just messing around, but Sam ended up doing one of the katas, which has 64 moves. It was amazing.

"I put a video of it on Facebook and it has already had 50,000 hits.

"It has sparked a lot of interest. People seem to be really interested about how he manages his life."

A former Fulford School pupil, Sam is a now a student at York College.

Mrs Tai said: "He can't really go to college at the moment. It's all quite overwhelming for him.

"He goes once a week for a couple of hours just to sit in his class, but he can't really remember his lessons."

Sam comes from a sporty family, with his older brother Dan Tai having played professional rugby union for Yorkshire Carnegie before recently signing for Rotherham.

FLASHBACK: Sam Tai pictured in 2013 when he was a pupil at Fulford School hoping to go to the World Karate Championships in Florida

Mrs Tai said: "Sam is very keen on his sport, which makes this extremely frustrating.

"He can't go to the gym. He can only really do stretching. He can't even go for a run."

Demonstrating the impact of his memory loss, she added: "He can't even go to the shops because he doesn't know how to get home."

Mrs Tai said Sam's friends have been quick to help him.

She said: "When he first wakes up in the morning, he really doesn't know anything. Social media has been brilliant for him.

"All his friends have been messaging him. He can look back through his history and see who they are and what he likes.

"He didn't know what music he liked, so it helped him there.

"By halfway through the day, he knows a lot more than he did when he started. The cycle then starts again the next day."

Mrs Tai said Sam is able to detect who his friends are by their mannerisms when he sees them.

"He's quite good at stopping and reading people's cues," she said.

Brain injury charity Headway say:

“Memory loss following brain injury is a complex area,” said Luke Griggs, from brain injury charity Headway.

“Amnesia can affect people in many different ways although severe cases such as this are rare without a prolonged loss of consciousness.

“Retrograde amnesia refers to the loss of memory for a period prior to the injury.

"Typically, this gap in memory will range from a few minutes to a few months, however each brain injury is unique and more extreme memory loss can occur."

Headway, which provides support and information to families affected by brain injury, has this week launched a new campaign to educate grassroots sportsmen and women about concussion.

Mr Griggs said: “There is no way to predict how long it will take and to what extent the old memories will return and it must be a very difficult time for this young man and his family.

“It sadly goes to show that even a seemingly minor head injury can have a major impact, and the only positive is that he was removed from the rugby match before sustaining an even more serious secondary injury.

“It is vital that everyone who plays sport treats concussion with respect and takes an ‘if in doubt, sit it out!’ approach. We encourage all local sports clubs to pledge to be concussion aware.”

Sports clubs can sign up to the campaign at www.concussionaware.org.uk

See the video of Sam's karate lesson here:

https://www.facebook.com/janemtai/videos/1351497704866914/