What you need to know
- A heartwarming and inspirational story about Pokémon Go player Matthew Lowry is spotlighting in the Apple App Store.
- After a serious injury, Lowry faced surgery and a year of intensive physical therapy.
- Pokémon Go provided the motivation, as well as the community support he needed to recover.
Although many players have enjoyed the health benefits from playing Pokémon Go, the App Store is currently featuring a particularly inspirational and heartwarming story of one such player and his group of friends. The player in question, Matthew Lowry has been playing Pokémon Go since day one and even reworked his daily routine to fit in extra time playing the game. However, after an unrelated accident left him with a very serious spinal injury, Matthew was facing surgery and a year off work to recover. His motivation to get out and play Pokémon Go helped drive his recovery which was dependent on meeting ever increasing weekly walking goals. Thanks to Lowry's determination, he managed to get back to work after only six months, cutting his doctor's estimates in half.
He didn't face his recovery alone either. As Lowry poured more and more time into Pokémon Go, he befriended three other players: Tom Lester, Steve Ratcliffe, and Steve Wittkowski. The four soon became close friends who organized plenty of community events both around Pokémon Go and unrelated. They hosted events after each Community Day, organized charity events, and even went on holiday together. They even decided to take a trip to Japan for Pokémon Go Fest in Yokohama. The quad wouldn't be able to make that trip though. In 2019, Lester fell ill with an inoperable cancer. Lowry and the pair of Steves had a memorial tattoo designed for their friend, which he was able to see before he passed. The trio still plans to travel to Japan one day where, with the permission of his family, they will spread some of Lester's ashes.
"He's still with us every day... When we hold events we have Tommy tributes and things like that. All of those people... we'd never have met without the game." Lowry spoke of his friend. The whole story can be found here in the Apple App Store Preview.
Has Pokémon Go changed your life? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to check out our best Pokémon Go accessories, so you can be fully equipped on your Pokémon Journey!
