Become a prodigy after being beaten

After being hit in the head by a bandit, someone who didn't know anything about the math suddenly saw the chart everywhere and became a mathematical prodigy.

Jason Padgett - a person who lives in Tacoma City, Washington State, USA - does not have a doctoral, master's or any degree. In fact, he used to go to college but quit before graduating. But suddenly he became a math prodigy after being attacked by a bad guy and hitting his head.

One evening in 2002, Padgett stepped outside a karaoke club when a stranger appeared and attacked him to steal the leather jacket he wore.

Mathematical prodigy Jason Padgett.

'I saw a flash. After that I just knew my knees touched the ground. Indeed I thought I was about to be killed , 'the 41-year-old man told ABC.

After that incident Padgett suddenly saw mathematical formulas everywhere and he could easily turn them into charts.

Some doctors have met Padgett and they think it is just a temporary neurological disorder syndrome. But gradually Padgett obsessed with complex charts. Before being attacked by bad guys, he never trained in mathematics and didn't know the concept of charts and their functions.

Today, Padgett uses charts to illustrate the beauty of numbers and their relationship to space, time and the universe. Very few people in the world can do this.

Berit Brogaard, a neurologist and psychologist of Missouri-St University. Louis in the US, thinks that Padgett suffers 'Savant syndrome' . Because some areas in Padgett's brain are damaged, his nervous system must use brain areas that other people never use.

'Savant syndrome is the development of a particular skill - like mathematics, spatial thinking, and autism. These skills grow to a very high level and turn an ordinary person into an extraordinary one, ' Brogaard said.

After being hit early in 2002, Jason
Padgett sees mathematical charts everywhere. (Graphic: ABC)

Many other prodigies have suffered from brain injuries. Kim Peek, an American, was born with a serious neurological injury. Although he did not perform normal movement (like buttoning the shirt), Peek could remember all the drawings, letters and numbers on paper even when he read two sheets at once. Peek reads the paper on the left with his left eye and the right sheet with his right eye.

Like Padgett, another prodigy - called Orlando Serrell - suddenly had a different ability after being hit by a baseball in 1979, when he was 10 years old. After the headache disappeared, Serrell discovered that he could perform many complicated calculations related to the calendar. Also Serrell could remember the weather every day from the time the baseball hit his head.

For Padgett, his greatest dream is to teach others about the beauty of mathematics.

'Sometimes I want the charts before my eyes to disappear, but they keep appearing. Anyway, my special ability brings more benefits than trouble. So I won't give it up in exchange for anything , 'Padgett replied after ABC asked if he ever considered his special ability a burden.