NY actress — nicknamed ‘Dory’ — uses notes app to remember friends, family after she was pushed off stage, suffered brain injury

A woman with memory loss makes memos on everyone in ꧒her life so she can remember details about them – and has been nicknamed Dory by her friends.

Megan Mackenzie, 27, suffered aꩲ traumatic brain injury after she fell off a stage in school and hit the back of her head.

꧙The author had to relearn to talk without a stutter and over time realized she was struggling with short and long-term memory loss.

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Now she keeps a memo for every friend or family member in her notes app on her phone – detailingℱ things such as their favorite color, birthday and places they like to go.

Megan, an actress and college educator, from New York City said: 💝“When I w❀as in school I got pushed off a stage and hit the bottom of a piano. I hit the back of my head.

“I had to relearn how to speak.

“Then I realised♋ 💮I didn’t have a memory anymore. I can remember how things make me feel but the details are blurred.

“I spent the next few years navigating the new ൩norm🅷al.

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“Each person has a personalized notes app.

“A lot of my friends know and let me tell the same stories over a million🌳 times.

“A lot of my friends call me Do♋ry [from Finding Nemo]. I always say ‘just keep swimming.’ ”

Megan was 17 years old when the inc🉐ident happened which caused her brain injury.

She said: “I🌟 couldn’t 🌌articulate what had happened.

“I don’t remember the next few months.”

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Her parents took her to th💫e hospital the following day – as initially no one realized the damage the fall had done.

She was told she had a mild concussion but, after her symptoms continued, she was✃ diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.

Over the years Megan has had various therapies to r𒆙elearn to read and talk.

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She said: “I loved reading. Now I read by🔯 speed reading.

“I can read an entire book in three hours.

“I get to redo the Harry Potter ser♐ies as an ♛adult with a fresh brain.”

Megan started making a habit of writing things down after she realized ꦛshe was repeating stories to her f♉riends.

She said: “That’s how I started💝 using my notes ap🍸p to keep track of things.

“I love bullet points. I ♕title the notes app for that person.

“I write down th💛ꦕeir birthday, places they go, names of dogs.

“It’s random life bits that were important🍌 when I wrote them down.

“Everyone wants to see their no🦂tes but I never let them see it.”

Her boyfriend, Andrew, 24, a masters stud꧋ent in comput🍸er engineering, is very supportive of Megan.

She said: “He i🌠s lovely and wonderful. He finds it charming when I tell him my stories for the 800th time.

“When I’m retelling stories I’ll look at him lik🤡e ‘what happened next?’ and he’ll jump in.”

After Megan’s brain injury she was told♋ it wouldn’t be “an option” to memorize lines.

Now she’s worked out a way to do it – by using൲ movementꦉ.

She said: “If I’m learniꦉng lines I will touch my head or something.

“Through movement I’mℱ able to ♛lock in these words.”

Megan shares her sto🍰ry onl♋ine – to help share the “quirks” of a brain injury.

She sa🦹id: “It doesn’t 🐲keep me from doing anything. I found a new normal.”