Helen Edwards began feeling unwell on Sept. 5, 2025, with fever, nausea, fatigue and aches. The 74-year-old from Penrhyn-coch in Wales first thought she had flu, but her condition changed fast. She became confused and behaved strangely, then worsened with increasing drowsiness, severe confusion and loss of coordination before being taken to the emergency room at Ysbyty Bronglais in Aberystwyth.
Doctors first thought she might have a urinary tract infection and gave her antibiotics, but she did not improve. A CT scan later showed brain inflammation, and on Sept. 12, 2025, she was diagnosed with viral encephalitis caused by herpes simplex virus type 1, the cold sore virus. She then spent 12 weeks in hospital and received intensive physiotherapy and occupational therapy. She is now at Morriston Hospital in Swansea after developing autoimmune encephalitis, and she now has an acquired brain injury.
Before the illness, Edwards was a keen swimmer, ran her own animal feed enterprise and helped run the family transport business. She never had a cold sore herself, but the virus can lie dormant and encephalitis can be caused by several viruses, including HSV-1. Autoimmune encephalitis is described as a complication that can follow viral encephalitis.
For her family, the change has been stark. Jane Richards said it was a big shift from Edwards looking after the grandchildren, and that she used to take her son to school three mornings a week. Richards said the family is now traveling to Morriston as much as possible, and that they do not know what the long-term impact will be. What is clear is that the illness has already taken away the ordinary life Edwards had before Sept. 5 and left her facing a long recovery with no easy end in sight.
