The worst ever lapse of memory

The worst ever lapse of memory came from Danish butcher Peter Dreichs, who announced to his wife Gherta, on the 15^th May 2002 that he had just remembered that he was actually Rich Cummings, the mayor of Craniville, Ohio, USA, and had simply forgotten both his job, name, home, wife and three children while on holiday in Denmark 12 years previously. Medical examination found no physical reason for his lapse, and a psychologist told the media, “It really does appear that he just forgot. His life was like a peanut down the back of a sofa.”

Peter Dreichsreturned to Craniville in 2004, but found his family had sold their house to the Kaufmann Tire company in the intervening years. He was eventually reunited with them on a special edition of the Ellen Degeneres Show in 2009. Photograph by Dougtone.

 ©2012 James Mathurin