Thursday, May 24, 2012

Joe Peachey Galesburg


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