Brain Injury Makes Cowgirl Genius

A cowgirl woke up as an accidental genius after suffering a catastrophic brain injury.

10:39 20 May 2015

Leigh Erceg, a 47-year-old former ranchworker has suffered a catastrophic brain injury after she stumbled into a ravine that lead to life-threatening spine and head wounds. However, in the course of her recovery, it was found that she had become a gifted poet and artists, as well as a math whizz, but without a memory of her former life. 

 

Doctors believe that she is the only one with acquired savant syndrome where cognitive ability in certain areas is vastly enhanced later in life. 

 

She can also now 'see' sounds and 'hear' colors - a condition known as synesthesia.

 

“Leigh is the only woman in the world who has acquired savant syndrome and synesthesia following brain injury that I know of,” said Dr. Berit Brogaard, a neuroscientist who has been studying her.

 

Meanwhile, Leigh said: “I don’t know what type of fall it was but it must have been pretty dramatic.”

 

“I just remember them saying ‘Leigh, keep breathing.’ I remember it was a sheriff, and he said, ’Leigh keep breathing.’ There isn't pictures, there is just words, ‘Leigh keep breathing.’”

 

In addition to her memories, she also lost her ability to feel emotion.