Real life '50 First Dates' story turned into a documentary
This is the true story of Nesh Pillay, who woke up one day with memory loss, unable to remember her fiancé and daughter.
Do you remember the movie '50 First Dates', starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler? It was a romantic comedy with all the makings of a classic.
While it might have been a classic movie, the plot seemed too over the top to be a case of life imitating art—or so we all thought.
The true story of Nesh Pillay, her fiancé, JJ, and their two kids has been compared to the movie. Their story has been turned into a documentary, '50,000 First Dates,' on Amazon Prime.
Don't expect it to be a cut-and-paste version of the film; Pillay's story is much more complicated than just a simple diagnosis. She has experienced memory loss as a result of brain injuries.
However, Pillay made it to the 'Drew Barrymore Show', and met the actress who played Lucy in the film.
Pillay navigates through life using brain training techniques and social media, which have assisted her in remembering. With the support of loved ones, she is learning how to piece together her life and share her journey with the world.
Watch the video of Pillay sharing the trailer for her documentary '50,000 First Dates' on TikTok.
@pillay.nesh SO EXCITED TO FINALLY SHARE THIS! This is what I’ve been working on for the past year (in addition to making a person). Thank you so much @Prime Video Canada 🇨🇦 for honouring my story #50KFirstDates ♬ original sound - Nesh Pillay
Her story does not have just one fairytale ending. She has to work at it consistently, which can be tricky when you have two kids.
After being assessed by psychiatrists, they were left disheartened when a doctor insinuated that Pillay was faking her memory loss. She has a history of concussions and is surprised that her medical assessment started with psychiatry and neurology.
My family took me to the doctor. At first, they were like, 'This has to be related to her former brain injuries, but she should be fine in a couple of days.' I wasn't, so they took me to a different hospital. The assumption was, 'Well, we don't know what's going on, so she must be faking.' It was not until filming this docuseries, truly, that I was connected to the neuroscientist Morgan Barense … [that we] finally got some very real answers about what's going on with my brain.
While on 'The Drew Barrymore Show', Pillay said, "The different centres of your brain are connected through neural pathways, like highways, almost. And a lot of mine are damaged. The other thing is brain atrophy. If you look at my brain, it's a lot smaller. There's a lot of space in there, which means that the brain tissue is dead.
"We're still kind of figuring out if it's actively dying. There are no answers. It's very confusing. I spend a lot of time questioning reality. Like everything I perceive, I kind of go to my therapist, my parents and my journal to piece together what is real life."
Pillay explains how her traumatic brain injuries came to be and specific moments in her life thus far in the video below on YouTube.
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