She Forgot Her Husband After a Brain Injury — Then Fell in Love With Him All Over Again

Nine months after Laura Faganello married the man she loved, a terrible accident erased one of the most important chapters of her life.

She forgot her husband.

She forgot how they met.

She forgot falling in love with him.

She forgot their wedding.

And when she woke up after the injury, the man standing beside her felt like a stranger.

But what happened next became a remarkable story about memory, patience and the possibility of beginning again.

Instead of trying to force Laura to remember a relationship that no longer existed in her mind, she and her husband, Brayden, slowly built a new relationship from the ground up.

He became someone she got to know again.

Then someone she trusted.

Then someone she liked.

Then someone she fell in love with.

And eventually, he asked her to marry him again.

She said yes.

Their story began with one wedding.

Then, in a very different way, it began again.

A Love Story That Started With Letters

Before the accident, Laura and Brayden's relationship had already taken an unusual path.

The two first became connected in 2015 through people they knew while they were living in different parts of the world. Brayden was doing missionary work in South Africa, while Laura was studying abroad.

Instead of immediately meeting in person, they began communicating through letters and emails.

For months, their relationship developed through words.

They wrote to each other and gradually learned about each other's personalities, interests, beliefs and dreams.

According to reporting by the Northern Sentinel, the pair corresponded for roughly nine months before they were both back in Victoria, British Columbia, where they finally met in person.

Their friendship eventually developed into a romantic relationship.

And in July 2016, Laura and Brayden were married at the Vancouver British Columbia Temple.

They had begun their relationship slowly, through conversations and correspondence, and eventually built a life together.

For the young couple, it was the beginning of what they expected would be their married life.

Neither could have imagined how quickly everything would change.

Nine Months Later, Everything Changed

On April 27, 2017, Laura was helping prepare an outdoor business event.

The setup was busy and chaotic. Large poles were being used for a tent, and Laura was working near one of them.

According to an account published by Church News, the poles had been placed on uneven ground. While Laura was decorating a table, wind caused one of the poles to fall. It struck her on the head.

Laura later recalled the sound and sensation of the impact.

She remembered the noise.

She remembered being hit.

But after that, her memory became increasingly unclear.

The injury was not simply a painful accident.

It was a traumatic brain injury that profoundly affected her memory and other abilities.

The weeks that followed were difficult and confusing.

According to reports about her recovery, Laura experienced significant short- and long-term memory problems and had to relearn abilities including reading, writing and speaking coherently.

But perhaps the most emotionally devastating part of the injury was what happened to her memories of the person she had married.

She could no longer remember Brayden.

"Who Is This Man?"

After the accident, Laura's memories did not simply become slightly blurry.

Large portions of her life were missing.

One of her next clear memories was waking up believing she was 17 years old.

She had no understanding of the adult life she had built.

She did not remember meeting Brayden.

She did not remember dating him.

She did not remember falling in love.

And she did not remember marrying him.

The man beside her was someone she did not recognize.

That created an extraordinary situation.

Brayden knew exactly who Laura was.

He remembered their conversations.

He remembered their courtship.

He remembered their wedding.

He remembered the life they had built together.

Laura did not.

Church News reported that when Brayden received a message from Laura shortly after the accident, he immediately realized something was seriously wrong. He went to find her and described her as appearing blank and distressed.

For him, the woman he loved was still there.

But the memories connecting them had disappeared.

For Laura, meanwhile, the situation was almost impossible to comprehend.

She was being told that she was married to a man she did not remember choosing.

The photographs could prove that a wedding had happened.

The rings could prove that she had been married.

Other people could tell her that Brayden was her husband.