Gaming isn’t always just about passing the time by pressing some buttons; the people who share your likes and hobbies often end up becoming a part of a community that takes the form of friendship, one that is bonded in happiness and sadness, both. When Jessica’s life was threatened by breast cancer, her husband’s gaming community with 300 members came to her rescue. They rallied around the couple and raised more than $1 million for lifesaving research, as per a report by Woman’s World.
A devastating diagnosis
When Oregon couple Jessica and her husband Matt Conwell were led into a consulting room, Matt spotted a box of tissues. “Bad news,” he predicted, and it was. Jessica had triple-negative breast cancer. Stressed and shocked by the news, the couple began their research but the more they read, the bleaker the future looked. “We’ll get through this together, as we always do,” Matt promised.Jessica and Matt met when they attended the same graduate school, where Jessica was working on her PhD in psychology and Matt on his M.B.A. They married in ’98, and Jessica started a private practice, while Matt turned a school project into the Portland Local Area Network (PDXLAN), centred on his video gaming community.Matt hosted huge game-a-thon parties where 300 or more gamers battled one another from Thursday to Sunday evening, with late-night sleep breaks to recharge. Jessica was always there helping out, which led to her nickname “conference mom.”After learning the news of her diagnosis, the community was devastated. Jessica’s treatment was also gruelling: a double mastectomy, chemo and radiation. She lost her hair and a quarter of her body weight. Her mood bounced from hopeful to bleak, and so did Matt’s. But he tried hard to be Jessica’s rock.
Rallying behind a friend
For the past several years, the gamers had raised money for charities that support sick children and people experiencing homelessness. Now, they wanted to redirect their generosity. “You told us the new drugs are helping, so this session, we want to raise money to support more research,” the group announced to Matt.The very next LAN party, a screen displayed a digital tote board that ticked up with each new donation. Matt fought back tears as the numbers rose to a record $55,000. The gamers’ support carried Matt through Jessica’s bout of sepsis, but she began a steady recovery. When she returned to the next game-a-thon, members surrounded her with cheers and hugs.So far, the PDXLAN contributions have topped $1 million for cancer research. Meanwhile, Jessica has been cancer-free for five years. “I never knew how many people were in my corner,” she says. “I was never alone.” Matt agreed. “New treatments saved Jessica, but there’s still so much to be done. Maybe our contributions will help a scientist make that next life-saving breakthrough!”