34-year-old Nesh Pillay experiences her own 50 First Dates after suffering a brain injury that caused amnesia. Now her story is being told through a documentary show called 50,000 First Dates: A True Story. Pillay had to reconnect with a daughter she forgot she had and fall back in love with her boyfriend.
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Anyone familiar with that 2004 film, or similarly The Vow which are romance movies where the women suffer from memory loss? Well, this actually happened to Pillay, and you can hear her story on Amazon Prime starting February 11.
Woman Goes On 50,000 First Dates With Husband After Memory Loss
The Toronto-based woman suffered a concussion in 2022 that left her with memory loss. She could barely recognize her daughter and her boyfriend, 32-year-old Johannes Jakope. Pillay remembered calling her daughter "the child" and mistaking her partner for an Uber driver.
After experiencing a few head traumas in her past, a more recent injury seemed to be the reason for the amnesia. "I only retain about 20% of new memories," Pillay explained. "If you asked me what I did two days ago, I'd probably just stare at you and hope for a hint."
While Pillay was in the process of healing, she shared her experience through TikTok, garnering thousands of fans. Even though she couldn't remember her partner, she knew he was a "safe space."
"No matter what, I always knew he was a safe space. He was still the person I would choose to go to doctor appointments with me or help me shower," said Pillay. Jakope proposed sometime later, and the couple have now had a son together as of March 2024.
Despite the ups, there are still downs. Pillay describes her health changing on the daily. "Some days, I feel almost normal and other days, I can't get out of bed and am so out of it that I can't follow a conversation."
She has also experienced many debilitating side effects due to the head trauma. Pillay suffers from headaches and tremors and is still on the hunt for the right treatments.
You can follow Pillay's journey through 50,000 First Dates: A True Story as it shows her meetings with a University of Toronto neuroscientist in which they discuss her unique condition.
