Update: A woman with amnesia was identified Wednesday as 53-year-old Ashley Menatta, a San Diego television station reported. Read more here.
A woman who was reportedly diagnosed with cancer and amnesia has turned to social media in hopes of reconnecting with her loved ones after being found barely conscious in Carlsbad earlier this year.
Her name was given only as “Sam” on a Facebook page created Thursday to tell her story and help in the effort to discover her true identity.
“It has been a bit over a 3 weeks that i have been out of the hospital and there have been no leads by the authorities of finding my family,” the page stated. “My friends that I have made believe it is time to use the internet ourselves to see if we can find my family or friends.”
Her ordeal began Feb. 1 in a coastal community in San Diego County.
Officers and firefighters responded that day to a woman in need of medical assistance, Carlsbad Police Department Lt. Marc Reno confirmed on Tuesday.
She was barely conscious conscious when she was located near the intersection of Tamarack Avenue and Adams Street (map), and was unable to give her name or any personal information to the emergency responders, KNSD reported. She was then transported to a medical facility, Reno said.
The FBI subsequently became involved in the case, to publicize information and seek information about the woman, at the request of local law-enforcement officials, according to Darrell Foxworth, a spokesman for the agency.
A page on Interpol’s missing persons website includes a photo of the woman, apparently in a hospital bed, and a physical description of her.
She was befriended by doctors, nurses and clergy at the facility, where she awoke speaking in an accent that sounded British or Australian, the Facebook post said.
“All of my initial dreams had to do with lap pool swimming in a salt water pool in Perth, then Icebergs in New South Wales in Cairns in Queensland and Byron Bay,” Sam stated, referring to cities in Australia. “I also had many dreams of living in Hawaii.”
Doctors diagnosed her with retro amnesia and found two tumors, one of which had been growing for five years, in her ovaries, Sam wrote, adding that she underwent chemotherapy and surgery to remove the growths.
“My prognosis is not good and I pray my family will be found soon,” she said.