Joe
Peachey learned the skills to develop a game app for iPhones and iPads while
earning his master’s of science degree in computer science at Western Illinois
University. But, real-life lessons he learned as a child started him on the path
on which he is now traveling.
The
Western Shootout game app can be downloaded for 99 cents on the iTunes App
store. It is more than just a game. The slogan of his company is “Play with a
Purpose.” Half of the proceeds of the shootout/shooting gallery game will be
donated to the National Brain Tumor Society.
“The
idea is to develop games and apps and each game I develop, we’ll donate a
portion to a different charity,” Peachey said.
The
choice for the first charity was an easy one. Peachey, now 26, began having
seizures when he was 8 years old. The malignant tumor was not discovered for two
years. He underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic when he was 11. Because of where
the tumor was located, there was a chance he would not be able to speak again.
For five long minutes afterward, he was unable to talk, five of the longest
minutes of the young man’s life. Then, the first words.
“I
had surgery on my dad’s birthday,” he said. “My first words were ‘happy
birthday.’ It was a real miracle for me and definitely for me family; a lot of
prayers.”
Peachey’s
life was already headed in a certain direction, but he was becoming more aware
of that fact.
“I knew somehow God was going to use all that for something,” he said. Click for article in the Galesburg Register-Mail By John Pulliam Posted May 24, 2012
“I knew somehow God was going to use all that for something,” he said. Click for article in the Galesburg Register-Mail By John Pulliam Posted May 24, 2012