Local man creates app after experiencing memory loss
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Some days it's hard to find goodness in the dark news out there but each day our Bill Anderson digs to find just that. Today, Bill Anderson spoke to a man who lost his memory after a serious accident so he decided to create one for himself and others, For Goodness Sake
“I had been hit by the car and developed episodic memory loss as a result of that. Really concisely that means that I can’t remember what happened last week. I don’t really remember what happened two days ago.”
It's like a movie theme but for Thomas Dixon it is his reality. He suffered serious injuries several years ago after being hit by a car as he walked down the street. Thankfully, he recovered but it didn’t take long to know things were different.
"You wake up in the hospital and it's pretty apparent when you don’t remember yesterday. People are asking you if you know what happened or you’re asking many questions and you end up having a note pad next to your bed. You were hit by a car you’re in recovery right now, your parents will be here at visiting hours,” he explained.
Doctors hoped that his memory would come back but after several years they accepted that this was pretty much it. So Thomas tried tweeting to himself and various methods of writing down memories before he decided if nothing exists to help people like himself, he’d create an app.
And this is where an already fascinating story gets even more so. Thomas went to an entrepreneurial center at Temple and told them his story. They put him together with a developer who himself had let's say a fresh perspective.
“I was still in high school. I was still in class when Julie sent the email that she wanted me to meet with a client," Thomas said.
So Thomas and his 18 -year-old developer met and ME.mory mobile memory app was launched.
"The app is an aid for my episodic memory. When did I last have Chinese food, what type of Chinese food, when did I last see my parents? It basically lets me answer any question related to when and what happened with them.”
You just input your experiences, notes and pictures throughout the day and the app organizes, categorizes and processes the results. It may be hard for those of us without memory loss to understand the significance because we underestimate how much our memory influences our decisions.
The longer FOX 29's Bill Anderson spoke to Thomas and Nic as they demonstrated the app it was easy to see why its useful to not only the millions of people worldwide with medical memory loss but could also be helpful to people who just want a better way to organize their thoughts.
The Me.mory app is an example of teamwork between unlikely partners but also an example of taking a trying situation and using it as inspiration to help large groups of people... For Goodness Sake.
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