A woman who forgot her own identity and had been hospitalized for five months after a being hit by a car has the news media to thank for reuniting her with her family Tuesday night.
The woman, previously referred to as “Jane Doe” at the hospital, had only recently become able to speak. Over the last two weeks, she was able to tell nurses that her name was Martha, that she was from Acapulco, Mexico, and that she had two sons.
This information was featured on both NBC4 and NBC4 sister station Telemundo 52, where the mystery woman’s brother saw the report Tuesday.
NBC4’s Gadi Schwartz spoke with the woman’s brother, who only spoke Spanish. He said that months ago when his sister went missing, he didn’t initially think to look for her because the two weren’t that close. He said that they didn’t talk very regularly and that the woman worked very odd hours cleaning houses as well as working in restaurants. He identified his sister as Martha Reyna.
According to police, Reyna was jaywalking across Fourth and Lacy streets in Santa Ana on Oct. 15, 2013 when she was hit by a car with such force that her shoe came off.
Reyna had suffered severe memory loss, but once she was able to speak, began pleading with her family to come forward.
Reyna was able to recognize her brother but did not recognize other family members that joined him at Western Medical Center.
