Health

Former NFL Player Explains How He Rebuilt His Life After Suffering Amnesia

All it took was a little patch of oil, one slip and a crack in the head. At 46 years old, Scott Bolzan could not remember a thing.

According to the Daily Mail, he couldn’t remember his wife or what a wife even was, the fact that he was in the NFL earlier in his life or even what the NFL was. Bolzan suffered retrograde amnesia from the fall. Retrograde amnesia causes a person to lose their memories from most recently formed to oldest — the stronger the case, the more memories dating back to earlier life are lost.

Professional NFL Player Recovers From One Slip and Memory Loss

Since his slip and fall on the slick floor of his private jet company in 2008, Bolzan has been piecing his life back together with pictures and video. Daily Mail has more on his recovery and a new book detailing this experience — My Life Deleted –which is expected to be released this fall:

After Scott left hospital he had to relearn almost everything.

He had to be reintroduced to his two children Taylor, 16 and Grant, 19.

[...]

He added: ‘I’d been a complicated man whom I didn’t know or understand.

‘It was going to take a lot of investigation and thought to figure him- or me – out.’

Slowly Scott has re-learnt everything including basics such as the solar system, the bible and even Christmas.

The memories of his former life have never returned, and after part of the vision in one of his eyes was lost he also lost his job as a pilot.

Watch ABC’s report:

The Daily Mail reports that Bolzan isn’t the first to suffer such and injury and rebuild his life. Su Meck was reduced to a 4-year-old’s mindset when she was knocked in the head by a falling ceiling fan:

Despite successfully relearning everything, including how to dress and feed herself, the woman from Gaithersburg, Maryland, said that even after two decades she still struggled with her identity.

Like Scott, she managed to rebuild her life from scratch and in June has just graduated with a college degree.

According to an article in the Washington Post earlier this year after Meck’s graduation from Montgomery College, her husband speaks of her recovery as becoming “Su 2.0.”

Professional NFL Player Recovers From One Slip and Memory Loss

Su Meck at her graduation at Montgomery College. (Photo: Matt McClain/Washington Post)

It took Meck, now 45, 19 years to reach the point of walking across the stage — for a second time — with a college degree.

Comments (11)

  • MUDFLAPS
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:13pm

    I dont remember who he is.

    Report Post »  
  • Tex Expatriate
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 5:10pm

    During my work as a psychotherapy doctor I treated several cases of Dissociative Fugue, formerly called Psychogenic Amnesia. (DSM-IV 300.13) It’s one of a handful of amnestic disorders. I can tell you, there’s nothing funny about suddenly not knowing who you are. Most of my patients/clients developed creative ways to start new lives, then suddenly were jolted back into the old personality after three or four months. They usually came to me because they wanted to end the suddenly occurring amnestic events. Often a wife or husband insisted that they do something to stop their periodic episodes. I won’t describe the therapy model that I used, but I will say it fell into the category of Brief Psychotherapy and was effective.

    Report Post »  
  • standupbcounted
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 12:27pm

    I cannot understand you who think this is funny..Reading some of your comments makes me sick..I have a close family member who 20 years ago was in a tragic accident and lost every memory she ever had..She couldn’t remember her own 2 small children or any other person in her life..Life can be hard for her. She still has no childhood memories and I see how hard it is for her.

    Report Post »  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:17am

    A football player loses his memory…….???? So what? How much did he really have to lose?

    Report Post »  
  • conservativeBC
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:15am

    Fantasy Football Team Names: Nobama Edition

    If we could get as many people concerned with the Marxists that have taken over our government as are fretting over their Fantasy Football leagues, Obama would have done been run out on a rail; maybe we could get people to do both.

    http://conservativeblogscentral.blogspot.com/2011/09/fantasy-football-team-names-nobama.html

    Report Post » conservativeBC  
  • TomFerrari
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:03am

    Second chance to be a better person?

    Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 10:50am

    Hey Bolza, you borrowed 50K from me in 2007 at 20% interest, remember?

    Report Post » Gonzo  
  • mazzefr
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 10:46am

    Link on main page says “NHL”. S/B NFL.

    Report Post »  
  • dinadp
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 10:38am

    When my cousin’s kid was 16, she slipped & fell while snowboarding. She banged her head & lost her mempry for 2 months. She only remembered her parents, 2 brothers, me & my parents. She missed school, couldn’t use a PC or watch TV. And it changed her personality quite a bit. It was a scary 2 months.

    Report Post » dinadp  

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