Surviving the Fog
Nearly a year ago, I heard about a guy called Tony. A Scottish animator. Late 20s. He took a working holiday in Hong Kong to create cute goblins for Asian TV.
Gig done, he flew into Oz to catch up with an old schoolmate, a brief stopover on his way home to Aberdeen. And that’s when the accident happened. Amid a weeknight pub crawl, Tony stepping off the kerb and a passing car throwing him into the air. When he landed, he’d lost his short-term memory - the ability to read and write, to tell a 6 and 9 apart.
The story of Tony’s recovery, using film as remedy, is astounding. I became fascinated, and pitched the profile idea to Sunday Life magazine. They wanted the piece to widen, include more sufferers of memory loss, and deal with the affliction as a theme.
So a month turned into four, as I went seeking other stories. That’s how I met Michelle - another remarkable survivor of brain injury, this time via an acute asthma attack. To complete the set is Gary - the man whose life almost ended with a flea-bite in northern Queensland.
This article was no everyday story. No quick turn-around or easy invoice. Four months turned to six. I kept to the task because I believed in my subjects’ resolve. Other stories came and went, and left little or no impression. This job was always on the back-burner, a private fixation, a sleeper in the jargon of the trade. But so much more than that.
Six months became nine. I needed to spend time with the amnesiacs, the first two in particular, giving them time to tell their stories first-hand, to seek and find those fugitive words. It was a privilege to be sitting in the same room, on the listening end.
Inspiring carers and strangers alike, these three extraordinary people hold centre-stage in my latest Freelance story - Grey Matters - on your right. The brain is a mystery, just as human will and love are curative forces.