He was diagnosed with viral encephalitis which damaged his left and right temporal lobes as well as a large portion of his left frontal lobe. His hippo-campus is almost completely destroyed. That is the part of the brain that is responsible for memory. Because of this damage he displays highly emotional behavior but that is not the worst of it!
Clive’s memory loss causes him to always think he has only been awake or conscious for about two minutes! He continuously checks his watch and writes the time down in his diary. Next to it he writes: “I am now completely awake for the very first time.” When he looks in his diary, he does not believe he wrote the previous entries, and crosses them out.
The amazing thing is that he has never forgotten his wife or his all-consuming love for her, and every time she enters his room, he is overcome with happiness to see her ‘for the first time after regaining consciousness.’
