Longtime broadcaster Katie Couric is sharing details of a recent health scare that erased several hours of her memory, leading to hospitalization and a diagnosis of transient global amnesia (TGA).
In a July 6th Substack personal essay titled “The Day I’ll Never Remember,” the 69-year-old recalled attending the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado in late June, when she suddenly became unable to remember recent events and struggled to answer basic questions.
“I decided to wear a white linen suit, a navy and white knit sleeveless shirt, and my new hat,” she began in her post. She said her husband, John Molner, “drove with me to the campus of the Aspen Institute and was excited to go to the hot dog stand for lunch. (They’re really good hot dogs!) That’s the last thing I remember.”
Couric participated in two public panels that day, but said she does not remember anything from “about noon” until “at least 7 p.m.” to which her memories “will stay in a big, black hole.” She added that she had “no idea what we talked about, or of what occurred when the panels ended.”
Molner, who contributed to the essay, noted that “something was off” and “Katie was definitely not all there” before taking her to an Aspen hospital to be evaluated.
Couric was unable to correctly identify the current year, the name of the sitting U.S. president, or recall some of her grandchildren’s names, with medical personnel initiating a stroke protocol. However, an MRI ruled out that diagnosis and instead pointed to TGA.
According to the Mayo Clinic, TGA is a rare neurological condition that causes sudden but temporary loss of short-term memory. Patients who experience TGA remain awake and can carry on conversations.
During an episode of TGA, a person cannot form new memories and may repeatedly ask the same questions. The condition typically resolves within 24 hours, leaving patients with little or no recollection of the time affected.
The veteran journalist expressed relief that it was not caused by a stroke or another life-threatening neurological event, and decided to speak publicly about the incident to increase awareness about the condition.
“Why did this happen to me? Was the altitude an issue? Was I dehydrated? Tired? Stressed?” Couric wrote. “The literature doesn’t seem to indicate that these are contributing factors, but the cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself.”
“All I know is that those hours will be forever lost. Someone described it as my brain failing to hit the ’record button,'” she continued. “While this was a freaky occurrence, it could have been much more serious. So ultimately, I’m relieved—even though several hours of a Saturday in June will always be missing for me.”
