Couple who met and fell in love after BOTH suffering brain injuries reveal how their new baby has boosted their memories

Louise Jones, 29, was knocked down by a car in 2007, hospitalised for 5 months and left with poor memory, balance problems and difficulty walking
Geraint Jones, 28, was attacked after walking a female friend home and was left with memory loss, brain damage, a broken jaw and deep cuts
Geraintâ€™s memory was so poor he had to set 90 reminders â€“ to do things such as leave the house and cook a meal -Â on his phone each day
But since birth of son Cian in March, Geraint must only set 3 or 4 each day

By
Anna Hodgekiss

PUBLISHED:

05:05 EST, 20 May 2013

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UPDATED:

13:33 EST, 20 May 2013

A couple who both suffered severe head injuries that left them with the long-term brain damage and severe memory loss have credited their newborn baby as their â€˜living timekeeperâ€™.

Louise and Geraint Jones, from Llantrisant, South Wales, have both suffered injuries that changed their lives for ever.

Louise, 29, and Geraintâ€™s long-term memories are poor and their short-term memory is limited to around 24 hours.

Louise and Geraint Jones say that newborn baby Cian is a living timekeeper.

Louise and Geraint Jones say that newborn baby Cian is a living timekeeper.The Welsh parents both suffered severe head injuries that left them with the long-term brain damage and severe memory loss

But the arrival of their newborn baby Cian in March this year has turned their lives around in many ways â€“ not least because having a child appears to have boosted both their memories.

Geraint, 28, has a memory so short he relies on reminders he sets on his phone to help him complete simple everyday tasks.Â

At the height of his memory loss, he would set an average of five reminders per hour, or nearly 90 reminders a day, to do everything from cooking meals to leaving the house.

Living with memory loss can be dangerous â€“ Geraint has set fire to his kitchen towels on five occasions, when he forgot to switch off the cooker.

Louise copes with her forgetfulness through disciplined ritual, where she performs the same strict routine each-day.

But Cian, born in March this year, has improved his fatherâ€™s memory so much that instead of 90 phone reminders, he now only needs three or four to survive the day.

Geraint (left) was the victim of an unprovoked attack in 2007 when he escorted a female friend home late at night.

Geraint (left) was the victim of an unprovoked attack in 2007 when he escorted a female friend home late at night. He was left with brain damage, a broken jaw and severe cuts and bruises

Louise Jones (centre) is pictured out with friends before being hit be a car in 2007.

Louise Jones (centre) is pictured out with friends before being hit by a car in 2007. She suffered a fractured skull, hip and jaw and still suffers with balance problems and severe memory loss.

â€˜My memory is improving every day since Cian came along,â€™ said Geraint. â€˜When it comes to him we have the same schedule every day because he is regular as clockwork.

â€˜Not only is he the happy son we would have wished for, but, I find when it comes to his needs, I remember to do everything I need to for him.

â€˜I know exactly when to feed him, cuddle him and take him out in his pushchair. With such little person to look after and my brain seems to have switched into a higher gear since he came along.

Louise and Geraint Jones married June 2011. The pair met in 2008 after meeting at the Head Start support group for people with head injuries.

â€˜I donâ€™t just feel like a new father, I feel like a new man thanks to my little boy.â€™

Despite this change in their fortunes, Geraint and Louise have overcome life changing injuries to start a family together.

In 2007, Louise was left in a coma after she was hit by a car while walking home on a night out with friends.Â

She suffered a fractured skull, hip and jaw and was hospitalised for five months.

Father Geraint says that new baby Cian has improved his memory considerably

Newborn baby Cian has been born to memory-impaired

Since Cianâ€™s birth in March this year, Louise and Geraint have lived according to his bodyclock. They say that Cian wakes up at 1.30am and Geraint gets up, washes him and
then brings him to Louise for feeding

She still suffers loss of balance, severe memory loss, fatigue and walking problems.

Geraint was the victim of an unprovoked attackÂ in May 2004 when he was escorting a female friend home late at night.

He ended up in intensive care for a week with brain damage, a broken jaw and severe cuts and bruises.

The pair fell in love in 2008 after meeting at the Head Start support group for people with head injuries. They married in June 2011.

By 10.30pm the parents are in bed for an early start the next day to tend to baby Cian. The couple get help from all four grandparents and they employ two support workers to help them

Louise agrees that Geraintâ€™s memory has improved considerably since Cian was born.

She said: â€˜When I ask for Geraint to get food out of the freezer for tea, he often tells me â€“ â€œYes love Iâ€™ll do it in a minuteâ€â€˜.

â€˜Of course, within moments he will have totally forgotten and will start something completely different, leaving me hungry.

â€˜But when it comes to Cian, heâ€™ll be up in the morning making the bottles ready without me even saying anything to him.

â€˜I donâ€™t understand how he can remember Cianâ€™s needs without any problem â€“ but everything else, including me, heâ€™ll easily forget about.â€™

Thanks to baby Cian, Louise and Geraint are more independent than ever

The family now follow a schedule based around Cianâ€™s predictable body-clock.

â€˜Cian now wakes up at 1.30am in the morning,â€™ she said. â€˜Geraint will get up, clean and wash him if he needs it and then bring him to me for feeding before he goes back to sleep.

â€˜Then by 6.30am Cian will wake up again and weâ€™ll do the same. By eight oâ€™clock, weâ€™ll be preparing breakfast for ourselves.

â€˜Then by ten, Iâ€™ll go shopping and Geraint will be at home doing any household jobs that need doing. We have lunch together at one in the afternoon and dinner by seven.

â€˜By 10.30pm, weâ€™re in bed for an early start the next day.â€™

Louise, Geraint and Cian get help from all-four grandparents, plus two support workers they employ to help them.Â

They hope that as Cian grows up, his memory will help them get by even more so.

â€˜We hope as he grows up and starts to speak, Cianâ€™s memory will help us get by even better as a family,â€™ said his father.

Peter McCabe, Chief Executive of brain injury association Headway said:

â€˜It is heartwarming to see Louise and Geraint doing so well and proving there is life after brain injury.

â€˜Memory loss following brain injury is common and can take many forms.

â€˜For some, it can mean losing the memory of significant periods of their lives, while for others short-term memory loss can make performing basic everyday tasks that most of us would not think twice about a real challenge.

â€˜While there is no simple solution to memory loss, at Headway we help people to develop coping strategies to help them manage the effects of their brain injuries. This support can be vital to individuals and families as they look to rebuild their lives following brain injury.â€™