This Woman Who Remembers Everything Has Written About Her First Memory At 12 Days Old
This Woman Who Remembers Everything Has Written About Her First Memory At 12 Days Old
Rebecca Sharrock is one of just 80 people in the world with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, which allows her to remember even the most mundane details of every day of her life, and her earliest memories are actually quite funny. Find out more here!
Rebecca Sharrock is one of just 80 people in the world with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, which allows her to remember even the most mundane details of every day of her life, and her earliest memories are actually quite funny. Find out more here!
Only about 80 people in the world have a condition known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), and one such person is Rebecca Sharrock of Brisbane Australia who can recite every single Harry Potter book from memory and has now written about her earliest memory, at the age of 12 days old. Her early childhood memories are actually quite humorous and shed an entirely new light on the thought process of infants.
My parents carried me to the driver's seat of the car (my father's idea) and placed me down upon it for a photo. As a newborn child I was curious as to what the seat cover and steering wheel above me were.
Rebecca Sharrock
Daily Mail, April 24, 2017
She can also recall her first birthday and specifically notes how itchy the satin dress her mother dressed her in felt.
I had no idea what the day was about, all I knew was that mum was putting me in an itchy satin dress, and I was crying. Though I was told that this was my own special day and that lots of people were coming to see me.
Rebecca Sharrock
Daily Mail, April 24, 2017
Sharrock also remembers a Minnie Mouse plush toy she received as a gift on that birthday and how terrifying she thought its face was.
My parents also gave me a Minnie Mouse plush toy, whose face terrified me, though I could not word this. All I could do was cry and push it away whenever I saw it.
Rebecca Sharrock
Daily Mail, April 24, 2017
Sharrock can also remember how she felt the day her younger sister was born. She was only two years old at the time.
Just after my second birthday my sister was born. I didn't understand what a sister was back then and was far more interested in playing with my toy train.
Rebecca Sharrock
Daily Mail, April 24, 2017
Sharrock is now participating in two different memory studies, hoping to find a cure for Alzheimer's, which her step-grandfather passed away with several years ago. If you'd like to read more of Rebecca's fascinating early memories, you can do so by reading her blog. What's your earliest memory? Talk to us about it in the comments below, and share with your friends to see how far back they can remember!