Twelve years ago, Jason Padgett failed his college entrance exams and started working at his father's furniture store, but a karaoke bar robbery soon followed that changed his life forever.
Then the 31-year-old man loved to go fishing, drove a red Camaro and was the life of the company. But after suffering a traumatic brain injury, Padgett began to see the world in a whole new light and became obsessed with math and physics.
Since then, he has become one of only 40 people who have been diagnosed with acquired savant syndrome. In cases where the syndrome, also called savantism for short, is acquired, once ordinary people become specialists in mathematics, art or music after traumatic brain injury.
It all began on the night of September 13, 2002, when Padgett visited a karaoke bar near his home, where he was attacked. Two men pounced on him from behind and punched him in the back of the head, knocking him out. However, in the hospital, the doctors who examined the man did not find serious injuries and in the morning, having prescribed treatment, they were sent home.
Upon waking up after the attack, Padgett found his vision had changed and he began to notice everything to the smallest detail, which he did not attach any importance to before. His discoveries began in the bathroom when he noticed trickles of water emanating perpendicular to the stream.
“At first I was amazed and worried, but it was so beautiful that I just stood there and watched,” Padgett told the New York Post.
Padgett stopped going to work and spent all his time studying math and physics, focusing on fractals - repeating geometric patterns. Despite the fact that the man had no talent for drawing before, he began to sketch fractals in great detail, sometimes spending weeks to complete the work.
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However, there was also a lack of his talents. After the injury, Padgett became withdrawn and began to spend all his time at home, covering his windows with blankets and not wanting to see anyone. He became obsessed with germs and washed his hands until they turned red. The man didn't even hug his daughter until she washed her hands.
Padgett thought he was going crazy, but hope came after watching a BBC documentary about Daniel Tammet, an autistic scientist.
“This is what happens to me. Someone else can see what I see! - it was this thought that came to Padgett's mind after watching the film.
Upon learning of Tammet, Padgett decided to see Dr. Darold Treffert, a leading expert in savantism, who diagnosed him with acquired Savant syndrome. Padgett became even more aware of what was happening to him after being in Finland, where he met with Dr. Berith Brogaard.
Dr. Brogaard performed an MRI scan of Padgett's brain and found that the left side was more active, especially in the left parietal lobe, which has been linked to mathematical ability. It seems that after the injury, neurotransmitters in Padgett's left brain were activated and ultimately restructured into a hyper-specialist.
After the diagnosis was made, Padgett decided to apply his acquired intelligence and went to college. Now the 43-year-old genius believes that he is an example of the untapped potential in every person.
“If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” he says.