how a near-fatal accident aided my honours degree...
On one unusually warm and sunny February Sunday back in the late '60's, it seemed like the perfect day for a trip with my girlfriend Theresa to ride through the Leicestershire countryside on my highly chromed and trendy Vespa scooter. We were so cool in our full-length leather coats and yellow tinted sunnies - no need for those “square” helmets - as we set off on our dream ride. [Note: there is no way I would ride any bike today without wearing a crash hat!]
There was virtually no traffic, until I noticed a car moving slowly ahead of me, a Citroen Traction Avant (moulded spare wheel cover on boot) and I remember remarking that the car we were just about to overtake was the same as one we had seen in a WW2 movie the night before. The next thing I remember… I was waking up in a hospital bed, unable to move or speak.
Witnesses later described the accident; as I was passing this car at around 45mph (just over 70km/hr) the driver suddenly decided to do a U-turn; we hit the side of the bonnet at full speed almost square on but at such an angle where the scooter and Theresa bounced off to the right into bushes on the median strip; but for me, I somehow flew “Christopher Reeve style” straight ahead, apparently doing some sort of paratrooper roll as I hit the tarmac hard many metres ahead.
Luckily Theresa was OK, escaping with a few small bruises and scratches on her arm as her coat and the bike mostly protected her. I didn’t fare so well… although a pretty fit young soccer player, I clearly couldn’t fly! With no helmet, I ended up with a badly gashed head, a lump-on-lump forehead and cheekbone, bleeding from the ears, a chunk taken out of my knee… and a fractured skull.
After two weeks in hospital and five weeks before returning to work, apart from the headaches, one major outcome was brain trauma induced, short term memory loss. Although I felt lucky to be alive, I was feeling sorry for myself over the bad timing just prior to entry into university. My memory was letting me down badly on everything… tasks at work… study… I couldn't concentrate. I’d go to the store for a loaf of bread to come back with canned peaches or condensed milk.
In desperation I started to research methods to see if I could get back to the old me, ready for some up-and-coming exams. It was then, I found a “mental imaging” memory technique training course being sold in the USA which I gladly tried and found I could adapt to suit my own needs… and it worked!
Starting out with 3, 5, 10… then 25 items and more, I would practice my “key list” system of memorising shopping list items at the local supermarket until I could remember every one each time. As the days and weeks progressed, I remembered more things more easily as I used on longer and longer lists. Importantly, I was able to adapt and transpose the same techniques from shopping items to paragraphs in reports, dates in history and more.
Memory technique perfection for me personally was to become a real life-changer - indeed life-saver even - as it helped me gain entry into my chosen degree course and take me through university to graduate with First-class Honours. I often pondered if there was some irony in that, had I not had the near fatal accident, would I have excelled in that way... who knows.
The same memory techniques were to take me though my whole professional career; so, when again hitting a memory loss challenge in the aftermath of a mini-stroke more than five decades later - a story for another time - this was again my saviour and the basis of this venture.
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