Every day when 16-year-old Riley Horner wakes up in the morning, to her, it’s June 11th. The reason isn’t because it’s a day she wants to keep reliving, nor is it her choice at all. Sadly, it’s because she’s suffering from a rare type of amnesia.
The condition is having a big effect on Riley’s life. Yet, she and her family are refusing to give up the fight to get her memory back to where it was. It’s a story you don’t hear about every day, that’s for sure.
Riley was your typical teen that wanted to attend a dance with other kids in Springfield, Illinois. That was on June 11, 2019.
In an interview with Inside Edition, Riley explained:
“My last memory is me at the dance.”
Her evening turned tragic because of an accident. Another boy at the dance was crowd surfing and ended up falling onto Riley. It was a simple mistake with very major consequences.
The teen had hit her head, so was quickly transported to the emergency room. She started having terrible seizures, yet doctors couldn’t find anything wrong in Riley’s test results.
But the effects were indeed serious.
Since that night in June, life hasn’t been the same for Riley. That’s because every two hours her memory resets and she’s unable to hold onto any new memories she creates.
In the past, Riley was an excellent student. However, she now struggles to remember the information she’s taught in her high school classes – which is hard for Riley, who wanted to become a doctor.
Other normal tasks are also difficult because of Riley’s amnesia, such as driving. She’ll park the car then forget where it is.
She told Inside Edition:
“It’s pretty scary because it’s the total opposite of what I was, it’s like I’m a different person now.”
Her family refuses to give up hope or the fight.
Riley and her parents ended up traveling to Utah where another test was performed at the Cognitive FX clinic. But this time, they were able to determine that she had in fact suffered a serious concussion.
Fortunately, the specialist believes that treatment is possible, although it would “take time.” Riley’s family has created a GoFundMe page with the goal of helping their daughter get her memory back one day.
She’s getting pretty tired of it.
When you’re a kid, you might say something like “I wish every day was Christmas.” But when you’re reliving the same day over and over it’s not quite so fun.
On top of Riley’s memory being affected, she also has problems with her hearing, speech, and deals with migraines and sensitivity to light.
She admitted:
“I want to get better more than anything in the entire world. I’m tired of June 11th.”
After Inside Edition posted her story on YouTube people have shared comments of support for the teen.
One person wrote:
“I admire her calm, courage and composure under these circumstances. Her strength is half the battle won. Go Riley!”
Another said:
“This is genuinely so sad. I hope for things to get better for her and treatment works.”
Many others are in agreement that Riley’s story reminds them of the movie, 50 First Dates, starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler.
Watch the video below to see Riley and her family’s full interview.
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