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.
asserted
that → pass → happiness
When Jessica's life was threatened by breast cancer, her husband's gaming community with 300 members came to her rescue.
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community → threaten → rescue
They rallied around the couple and raised more than $1 million for lifesaving research, as per a report by Woman's World.
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They → rally → World
When Oregon couple Jessica and her husband Matt Conwell were led into a consulting room, Matt spotted a box of tissues.
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Matt → lead → tissues
"Bad news," he predicted, and it was.
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it → predict → ?
Jessica had triple-negative breast cancer.
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Jessica → have → cancer
Stressed and shocked by the news, the couple began their research but the more they read, the bleaker the future looked.
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future → stress → research
“We’ll get through this together, as we always do,” Matt promised.
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Matt → get → this
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.
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Jessica → meet → 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.
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Matt → marry → 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.
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gamers → host → breaks
Jessica was always there helping out, which led to her nickname "conference mom."
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which → help → nickname
After learning the news of her diagnosis, the community was devastated.
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community → learn → diagnosis
Jessica's treatment was also gruelling: a double mastectomy, chemo and radiation.
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treatment → gruelle → ?
She lost her hair and a quarter of her body weight.
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She → lose → weight
Her mood bounced from hopeful to bleak, and so did Matt’s.
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Matt → bounce → bleak
But he tried hard to be Jessica’s rock.
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he → try → ?
Rallying behind a friend
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Rallying → rally → friend
For the past several years, the gamers had raised money for charities that support sick children and people experiencing homelessness.
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that → raise → homelessness
Now, they wanted to redirect their generosity.
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they → want → 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.
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group → tell → Matt
The very next LAN party, a screen displayed a digital tote board that ticked up with each new donation.
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that → display → donation
Matt fought back tears as the numbers rose to a record $55,000.
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numbers → fight → 55,000
The gamers' support carried Matt through Jessica's bout of sepsis, but she began a steady recovery.
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she → carry → recovery
When she returned to the next game-a-thon, members surrounded her with cheers and hugs.
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members → return → cheers
So far, the PDXLAN contributions have topped $1 million for cancer research.
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contributions → top → research
“I never knew how many people were in my corner,” she says.
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she → know → corner
Matt agreed.
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Matt → agree → ?
“New treatments saved Jessica, but there’s still so much to be done.
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treatments → save → Jessica
Maybe our contributions will help a scientist make that next life-saving breakthrough!”
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scientist → help → breakthrough
The Aporia
