Tumour man re-weds 'forgotten wife'

Ken and Christine Howell "re-married" at the weekend

When 56-year-old Ken Howell emerged from a coma in 1997 he believed he was still a teenager living in the 1950s.

A brain tumour had effectively wiped away four decades of his memory.

Mr Howell had no re-collection of his wedding to wife Christine in 1965, or of the fact that he had fathered three children.

She has looked after me tremendously well and I love her so much

Ken Howell

However, Mrs Howell has patiently helped her husband to re-gain some of his lost memory, and at the weekend they renewed their wedding vows.

Mr Howell, a civil servant, fell ill four years ago, suffering from a heavy cold and severe headaches.

His condition deteriorated, and he lapsed into a coma after being admitted to hospital.

Unconscious

Ken on his original wedding day

Cancer of the spine had spread to his brain, and for three months he remained unconscious close to death while his wife remained at his bedside.

Eventually, he recovered consciousness, but did not recognise his wife, or any of his family.

Even the cars in the hospital car park threw him - he thought they were space ships.

He was also staggered to see colour television.

"I was amazed that you could get a screen which projected people in colour."

Mrs Howell admitted that it had been a long struggle to help her husband through his trauma.

She said: "Although it was frustrating, Ken never saw me cry.

"I always tried to be optimistic and in the end I came to believe that I would get him through it."

Mr Howell told the BBC just how much his wife's devotion had meant to him.

"She has looked after me tremendously well and I love her so much."

Mr Howell's cancer is now in remission.