When Jamie woke up from cancer surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, his voice box was gone. Surgeons had rebuilt his throat using tissue from his leg, but at 60, he would never speak again. His sister, Amy, a 58-year-old who runs a coworking space in Salem, Massachusetts, and had never written a line of code, decided to build him a solution.
Amy first tried official channels—the hospital's speech team, Apple, and dedicated AAC devices—but found them lacking. "I got flattened," she says. "Thank god I got flattened, because I had to go build it." Using Manus, she created Wally, an app that combines a voice aid with Jamie's passion for golf, making it something he'd actually use.
Wally greets Jamie daily with golf news and scores, and lets him bet against the AI on tournaments. But beneath the surface lies the core function: one tap speaks urgent phrases like "I am having trouble breathing" or "My airway feels blocked," alongside everyday needs and messages for his granddaughters like "I'm proud of you." Amy even added a button to call his dog, Shaymis, after Jamie feared he'd have to give him away.
The app also includes a medical ID page with his surgery details and emergency contacts, designed so even his grandchildren can help in a crisis. Amy gave Wally to Jamie on his 60th birthday in the hospital, 28 days into his stay. "He said, this could help open my world," she recalls.
Amy continues to iterate, adding features like LPGA news when Jamie mentioned disliking the LIV tour. She now hopes Wally can help others—stroke survivors, autistic adults, or anyone who has lost speech. "I'm fifty-eight, never touched technology, never coded until a year ago, and I built my brother something very powerful," she says.