A BRAVE mother had to learn to speak again after a serious fall left her with memory loss and slow speech.

Shelley Herniman, 46, from Chepstow, was out walking when she slipped on ice and hit the back of the head.

At first she thought she had only winded herself, but it became apparent that things were much more serious.

She said: “I was on my own in the middle of nowhere and I knew I had hurt something because my whole right side was uncomfortable, but I thought I had pulled something.

“I drove home and was not very well. My husband Nigel knew something was wrong and he took me to the Royal Gwent Hospital. They were worried I had fractured my neck.”

Tests found that Mrs Herniman had swelling that has compromised her nerves. She went home to recover and a week later people commented on her speech.

“I put it down to being tired,” she said. “It was a Saturday morning, about 10 days after the fall, I was on the sofa and couldn’t move. I felt like I had been kicked in the head and I couldn’t talk.

“I thought it was a bug and I went to bed, but I knew something wasn’t right. I went to the doctors on the Monday and when the doctor saw me she sent me straight to the Gwent.

“I was more concerned that it was my son Noah’s Christmas play in school and I didn’t want to miss it so I said ‘I can’t go.’ I knew he would be upset if I didn’t go, but she said ‘I am so sorry you have got to go to hospital now.’

“I had scans and they found swelling on the brain and they diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome.”

In most cases the symptoms of the syndrome are gone within two weeks, but in some cases they can persist much longer.

The 46-year-old’s speech only started to return in February; three months after the fall which had left her with short-term memory loss and constant tinnitus.

She said: “It was like I had a stutter and I had lots of words missing and I couldn’t fill the gaps. I knew what I wanted to say but I couldn’t say it. It was horrendous.”

Mrs Herniman still has some speech issues and her short-term memory is affected but she returned to work as a railway guard six weeks ago.

“It’s now a case hopefully of a full recovery. I still suffer loss of words and I think I have learnt to cope with that. I hope to make a full recovery.”

Inspired by his mum, 11-year-old Noah will be taking on the Chepstow Stampede obstacle course at Chepstow Racecourse on Saturday, October 21 to raise money for Dementia UK.