The Split writer Abi Morgan says in new memoir she 'couldn't script' family tragedy that saw her partner emerge from a coma to recognise their children but not HER - months before she was diagnosed with breast cancer

  • Welsh screenwriter Abi Morgan has won a BAFTA and an Emmy for her work, which includes The Hour, Iron Lady and Birdsong
  • In 2018, her partner Jacob Krichefski, 49, collapsed at the family home after suffering an adverse reaction to MS trial drugs, which would leave him in a coma 
  • When he awoke seven months later, he assumed Morgan was 'someone sent by the state'  after developing rare Capgras' delusion
  • Morgan was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy and chemo in April 2019, while Jacob was still recovering in hospital
  • Her memoir about the family's ordeal, This is not a Pity Memoir, is out now 

By Jo Tweedy For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

One of the UK's leading screenwriters has revealed how she faced a real-life 'plot twist' when her partner of 18 years woke from a coma but didn't recognise her - saying it left her feeling like her life had been 'burgled'. 

Emmy-winning Welsh writer Abi Morgan, who has penned hits such as The Hour, The Iron Lady and current BBC drama The Split, has written a frank memoir about the trauma she faced when her partner, actor Jacob Krichefski,, 49, emerged from a coma but thought she was 'an imposter who worked for the state'.

Months later, she would undergo a mastectomy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer while her partner was still in hospital.  

In her new book, This is not a Pity Memoir, 54-year-old Morgan documents how her family's world was tipped upside down in June 2018 when the father of her two children, who has MS, was found on the bathroom floor of their home after suffering a reaction to drugs he was taking as part of a trial.

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Welsh screenwriter Abi Morgan, who has won a BAFTA and an Emmy for her work, which includes The Hour, Iron Lady and current BBC series The Split, has written a memoir about how her family's lives changed forever when her long-term partner Jacob Krichefski emerged from a coma but failed to recognise her (Morgan pictured with her two children and partner Jacob Krichefski in 2015)

Welsh screenwriter Abi Morgan, who has won a BAFTA and an Emmy for her work, which includes The Hour, Iron Lady and current BBC series The Split, has written a memoir about how her family's lives changed forever when her long-term partner Jacob Krichefski emerged from a coma but failed to recognise her (Morgan pictured with her two children and partner Jacob Krichefski in 2015)

One of the UK's leading screenwriters, Morgan, 54, has written a book, This is not a Pity Memoir, about how her partner developed a condition called Capgras delusion, in which sufferers believe that a person they are close to has been replaced by an imposter

One of the UK's leading screenwriters, Morgan, 54, has written a book, This is not a Pity Memoir, about how her partner developed a condition called Capgras delusion, in which sufferers believe that a person they are close to has been replaced by an imposter

The writer told Woman's Hour host Emma Barnett this week, that after being 'blue-lit' to hospital, Jacob's condition was so serious that the doctor caring for him warned Morgan her partner could die that day.

However, after a series of tests, none of which could show conclusively what was wrong with Jacob, and continued seizures, he was transferred to London’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. 

After developing brain inflammation, his body began to slowly shut down leaving doctors forced to put him in an induced coma - from which he wouldn't awake until January the following year.   

Speaking to Woman's Hour, she said the moment she realised Jacob didn't recognise her anymore left her feeling in a state of 'shock and hysteria'. 

He had developed Capgras' syndrome, a rare type of delusion where a person feels someone, sometimes themselves, has been replaced with an imposter.

Although the delusion can extend to pets and even personal items such as property, often it focuses on someone close to the patient. 

In 2018, Morgan's partner, actor Jacob Krichefski, collapsed at the family home after suffering an adverse reaction to MS trial drugs, which would leave him in a coma

In 2018, Morgan's partner, actor Jacob Krichefski, collapsed at the family home after suffering an adverse reaction to MS trial drugs, which would leave him in a coma

Morgan, pictured with author David Nicholls, at a publicity event for her memoir, says writing the book gave her 'a safe place' to process what had happened to the family

Morgan, pictured with author David Nicholls, at a publicity event for her memoir, says writing the book gave her 'a safe place' to process what had happened to the family

She said: 'It's a great plot twist. I mean, it felt like a cliché. But basically when Jake woke up, I became quickly aware that the one person who he didn't recognise any more was me.' 

Describing how she was left feeling like her life had been 'burgled', she said: 'I'm a dramatist, so I'm aware of the drama but I can also feel the catch in my [throat]...you know it's still quite live for me. It was so shocking.' 

She said the joy of Jake waking up had turned to a surreal nightmare, heightened after a romantic build-up: 'I bought him a really cheesy bright red balloon heart for Valentine's Day and gave it to him and the nurse had bought a really awful red rose wrapped in cellophane for me and very sweetly gave it to me and said "Jacob, you know, it's your wife."'

Morgan was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2019, and underwent treatment including a mastectomy while her partner remained in hospital (Pictured in 2017 at the British Academy Cymru Awards
Her memoir about the family's three-year ordeal

 Morgan was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2019, and underwent treatment including a mastectomy while her partner remained in hospital. Right, Her memoir about the family's three-year ordeal (Pictured in 2017 at the British Academy Cymru Awards, right, the cover of her memoir)

Morgan is the writer behind BBC hit series The Split, starring Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan

Morgan is the writer behind BBC hit series The Split, starring Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan

She continued: 'And he said: "That's not my wife". And from then on, it became apparent that Jacob had developed a very specific and quite rare delusion called Capgras' delusion, which is the belief that someone close to you has been replaced by an imposter.' 

In the book she documents how he told her: 'I know you are not who you say you are'  and asked 'Why do you have such an interest in my children?'. 

What is Capgras' syndrome?

Capgras' syndrome is a rare type of delusion where a person feels someone, sometimes themselves, has been replaced with an imposter. 

Although the delusion can extend to pets and even personal items such as property, often it focuses on someone close to the patient. 

Source: Stroke Association 

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She says, it took a year - and an exhausting amount of work - to persuade Jacob that 'I wasn't working for the state and that I was in fact his long term partner.'

While he was still recovering in hospital, Morgan was diagnosed in April 2019, with breast cancer and a mastectomy and chemotherapy followed. The Welsh writer is now in recovery.  

In an interview with The Observer earlier this month, she said writing her memoir felt like a safe place where she could 'make sense' of what had happened to the family for the couple's children.  

She said: 'Primarily, I did it because I was losing my mind and I was trying to hold on to my sanity. 

'I was very, very frightened and I didn’t want my children to be frightened; I thought that if I could hold it all and write it down for them to read… that they might feel that [a book] was a safe place, as if it was over there, rather than here.'

This is not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan is out now 

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