YORK man Peter Broadhead miraculously regained memories of his schooldays - after a five-and-a-half hour head operation to remove a growth from his brain.

Peter, 40, of Carr Lane, Acomb, retrieved long-lost memories of his schooldays at St Aelred's Primary school.

Now he's appealing for former classmates to get in touch for a reunion.

Peter attended St Aelred's, in Fifth Avenue, more than 30 years ago when he lived in nearby Penyghent Avenue.

He says ever since his operation in the summer, the names and faces of his classmates have "just come flooding back".

He said. "It's been really weird."

Father-of-three Peter became ill while on holiday in Filey, and was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he had the gruelling operation to remove a growth on his brain.

He said that because of the nature of the operation, parts of his brain had been moved about so the surgeons could get at the growth.He was allowed home two days later.

He said: "I was OK physically, but because my brain had been moved about a bit, I started to remember things from my primary school."

Peter's mum Mary Broadhead said that the bizarre return of her son's memory had been compared by surgeons to a filing cabinet falling over.

"When he had the operation all his memories, the files, came tumbling out. He has been trying to pick up all the folders and refile them in his brain. When he has refiled everything, he'll be all right.

"But for now he just wants to meet up with all the people he has been thinking about."

A spokesman for the neurology department at York District Hospital said that it was difficult to say whether such an operation would automatically lead to Mr Broadhead regaining his past memories.

"We have all heard of people having flashbacks, but it is not the sort of thing that would definitely occur," he said.

"Everybody is different, and it could be a psychological thing rather than a physiological thing."

The people Mr Broadhead is trying to track down were in Mr Conroy's class in 1968. He has managed to trace around half of his class, but he is keen to get hold of the rest for a night out.

If you were one of Mr Broadhead's classmates, or know of anyone who was, contact him on York 785654.

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