Missing Himachal man regains memory after 45 years in 2nd accident; reunites with family

(R) Rikhi Ram with a relative at his native village in Himachal Pradesh.

Rikhi Ram, a resident of Nadi village in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district, lost his memory at the age of 16 after suffering a severe head injury in a road accident near Ambala in 1980.

The trauma completely erased his identity and personal memories. After the accident, he disappeared, and despite desperate searches by his family—at a time when there were no phones or modern means of communication—he could not be traced. His parents passed away without ever knowing what happened to their son.

With no recollection of his past, Rikhi was given a new name, Ravi Chaudhary, by friends who supported him in rebuilding his life. He later moved to Mumbai, took up multiple small jobs, and eventually settled in Nanded, Maharashtra.

There, he found work at a college, married Santoshi, and became a father to three children—two daughters and a son—never once aware of the family and home he had left behind in Himachal.

A few months ago, another head injury unexpectedly brought back flashes of his early life—images of a mango tree in his village, narrow lanes, and the courtyard of a house in Sataun. Recognising these as pieces of his forgotten past, Rikhi sought help from a college student to search for Nadi village and Sataun on Google.

A phone number of a café in Sataun became the breakthrough, eventually leading him to MK Chaubey, a relative who matched his memories and helped trace his siblings.

On November 15, Rikhi returned to his native village along with his wife and children. The reunion was overwhelmingly emotional, with his siblings receiving him with tears and garlands. The entire village gathered to witness the moment, many believing he had been lost forever.

Mental health specialist Dr. Aaditya Sharma explains that memory restoration after decades is extremely rare, though not impossible. He adds that such extraordinary cases can only be fully understood through detailed neurological evaluations.