Her name is Becky Sharrock and she is 26 years old. She lives in Australia and suffers from such a rare affliction that the religion of science has only recently begun to look at it and give it a name. Becky, it seems, can remember every single second of her life as if it has just happened.
Her condition, it is supposed, is not to be confused with eidetic memory. Besides, science doesn’t recognize eidetic memory as existing because scientists claim to never have found an actual case where it can, of course, be measured. This, it appears, is something quite different and causes a certain uneasiness.
As of right now, young Miss Sharrock is the only human in Australia who has been medically diagnosed with what is called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). She remembers, and can accurately recall, at least to her reckoning, every single moment she has lived through in this particular lifetime. What did she eat for lunch on July 16, 2011? She knows exactly what she had.
Not only that, but she remembers conversations from years ago and even specific pages from a book she has read. All of it is current reality for her and she isn’t going to let anyone tell her differently. She has traveled to the United States of America to meet with certain doctors as well as the small handful of others who suffer from the affliction.
Becky has always assumed that this is how everyone lives. She just figured other people had a real handle on how to deal with it effectively enough to try and function “normally”. Now, however, she knows differently. She can’t however, understand how people forget things. In fact, she has no context for understanding what forgetfulness means at all. It is just an abstract construct for her right now.
“It was a shock, and still is,” says Becky. “It’s mind boggling for me.”
Becky says she has struggled with the affliction for her whole life. It is quite often painful for her to remember everything. Some things we can forget, especially those that have been unpleasant and painful, she is not ever able to purge. Doctors explain that life is rather literal for Becky. For instance, if she is in a store and someone happens to bump into her, her mind will be immediately triggered to a vision of a similar instance that may have happened to her when she was six years old.
Doctors originally tested her by using the Harry Potter novels. She told them that she remembers every page and every word from the six novels. The Harry Potter story is a novel of well over 5,000 pages. She did, indeed, recall every word on every page.
Doctors say that she is making some adjustments that have been helping her to deal with her affliction and merely recognizing what it is and having the support of others who struggle with it has been a huge weight off her mind and has greatly lifted her spirits.
PHOTO CREDITS: The Daily Mail (London)