An insect bite could cause different reactions in the body but a man from England developed a side effect that changed his life. Gary Newman, 59, caught a rare virus infection from a fly bite in 2015. He now can't remember his wife, Christine Newman, and their kids, when he's been married for over 30 years.
Doctors diagnosed Gary with encephalitis, which affects less than 4,000 of the general population in a year. According to the Mayo Clinic, the viral infection could lead to inflammation of the brain and confused thinking, among other symptoms.
A Blandford fly bit Gary while at work on a construction site and infected him with the herpes virus, which doctors determined later, led to the encephalitis. He went home from work complaining of flu-like symptoms, took paracetamol and slept.
That night, however, Gary suffered a seizure and the family rushed him to the hospital, where he stayed for three more weeks. On the fourth day of his hospital stay, Gary woke up forgetting Christine. "He was conscious, but he was in his own little world - he wasn't with us, he didn't know who we were," she said, as per Metro.
Christine continues to care for her husband to this day even as Gary has no more memory of his wife and family. She tries to help him remember by having him look at old photographs.
"It's like I've lost my husband," Christine said. "His body is there, but he's not inside," she said, adding the situation makes her feel like grieving.
Christine also said her husband gets frustrated about not remembering anything. Seeing her husband suffer makes Christine even sadder about what happened. She, however, won't give up on him.
"I married him because I loved him, in sickness and in health, and I couldn't do it to him," she said. "If it had happened to me he'd have done the same and looked after me."
