LOST AND FOUND

摘要

Molly Birnbaum only realised the extent of her injuries from a car accident when she was at a family gathering a few weeks later. Her stepmother had baked an apple crumble. "It wasn't until she held it under my nose and I breathed in that I realised I could not smell a thing." Her doctors believe the impact she experienced must have disconnected the nerves between her nose and brain. Without smell, Birnbaum knew her dreams of becoming a chef were over. What soon became clear, however, was that the loss also dulled her overall perception of the world. "It was as if the texture of my environment was wiped smooth," she says. There was some hope for the future, however, since nerves can sometimes regenerate. To help them, she began by smelling spices from her cupboard for 10 minutes a day, before setting off on a more serious quest, picking up tips from some of the world's top perfumers and chefs. Slowly but surely, the nerves grew back and her sense of smell returned. In doing so, she experienced the strong link between smell and mood - during bouts of depression, she struggled to smell, but in happier times smells came back.