"When I came round I had no memory of anything. I didn't know who I was. I knew my mum and dad, but nothing else. I didn't know my sister."
Helen lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Before her accident Helen was involved in many sporting activities such as table tennis and running.
I was involved in a serious traffic accident several years ago. It was just as I was training to be a nurse, like my mum (my mum died a few years ago). Now I'm learning to do everything again, but I'm determined to become a nurse!
Who can remember learning to talk? Or learning to walk and to feed themselves? I can't remember the first time I learnt these things, but I can remember the second. At the age of 21 I was hit by a lorry and spent 5 months in hospital. I was unconscious for 7 weeks. When I came round I had no memory of anything. I didn't know who I was. I knew my mum and dad, but nothing else. I didn't know my sister. My mum showed me a video of myself as a bridesmaid at a wedding a few years before. I couldn't believe it--I couldn't remember. I cried. I had to learn to talk. My first word was 'Mum'. I had to learn to crawl, then walk, then climb stairs. Coming down the stairs was the hardest I had to sit on my bum and slide down! I had to learn to read and write again. And I'm still learning. The accident was 7 years ago now. Just a month before the accident I'd started to do a pre-nursing course at Chester University. My mum was a nurse. She died 4 years ago. Before the accident I'd been a dental nurse and a care assistant. I'd even delivered a baby--a little girl--but I don't remember it at all. It's going to take a long time, but I know I want to be a nurse like my mum. I've just got to do it.
If it takes me years, I'll do it again. | 
