- "Sammy, it's time for my shot."
Mrs. Jankis was the wife of Sammy Jankis, according to the story told by Leonard Shelby.
Leonard's story[]
In the story of Sammy that Leonard told to Teddy, and others, Mrs. Jankis and her husband were involved in a car accident that left Sammy with short term memory loss. Sammy was left unable to work, although he was able to give Mrs. Jankis (who suffered from diabetes) regular insulin shots as long he concentrated on what he was doing.
The medical bills incurred by Sammy's condition began to mount, so Mrs. Jankis called the insurance company that Leonard worked at. He visited their home several times to assess Sammy's condition, and ordered some tests to be carried out on Sammy. However, when Sammy didn't respond to conditioning the claim was turned down, on the grounds that his condition was mental not physical. Mrs. Jankis was stuck with the medical bills.
She then fought the company's decision, but the cost of that coupled with the cost of supported him crippled her. She tried all sorts of things to bring back Sammy's memory - believing that if his problem was only mental, he would be able to snap out of it. She had him hide food around the house to see if his hunger would make him remember where he had hidden it.
Mrs. Jankis slips into a coma
Nothing worked, so she went again to see Leonard at the insurance company and asked him if he honestly believed Sammy was faking. Leonard told her that he thought Sammy was physically capable of making new memories.
Mrs. Jankis then returned home to give Sammy his final exam. After her shot of insulin, she wound the clocks back and asked him to administer it again. She did this several times, before slipping into a coma from the overdose. She never recovered, and as Sammy was unable to explain what had happened, he was committed to an asylum.
Teddy's story[]
According to Teddy, Sammy Jankis never had a wife, and Leonard exposed him as a conman. Leonard projected the death of his own wife onto Sammy in order to escape the guilt whenever he remembered the story.