Superhero Streamer Chris tells us his reason for rallying the gaming community to raise crucial funds for life-saving cancer research.
On July 11, Superhero Streamer Chris (also known online as Descry) hosted the first Defeat Cancer APEX tournament, in support of Cure Cancer. The tournament bought together 62 streamers from the community to play the popular online game APEX Legends, with each streamer raising funds via the GenerOZity platform, Stream for Good.
After four hours of intense and exciting competition, the streamers raised an incredible $33,450 equalling nearly 670 hours of life-saving research!
Being able to bring the online community together for an important cause has been a proud achievement for Chris due to his lifelong passion for gaming. ‘I was always a massive computer geek. Being home all the time playing games and seeing others do it and how fun it looked made me want to get into streaming. I enjoy playing with all my streaming hardware and seeing just how far I can take my stream. I’ve also made so many friends in the TwitchANZ space and built a community of lovely people I enjoy talking to. It’s been a fantastic way to connect with people all over the world and make friends.’
LIVING WITH A RARE DISEASE
It’s unlikely you’ve heard of Ollier’s disease, but for Chris, it’s a devastating disease that changed his life and was his motivation for hosting the APEX tournament.
After visiting a specialist for a knee inflammation at the age of 17, Chris was stunned to learn his pain was something more troubling. ‘Ollier’s disease is a rare skeletal condition that affects only 1 in 100,000 people,” explains Chris. “I was shocked to learn there were tumours in my knee and had to have it drilled into and a biopsy taken. I was told that if the results didn’t come back 99% benign, they would have to amputate my leg to save my life. Fortunately, the results came back with enough certainty for the doctors to be confident it was nonthreatening.’
“Having Ollier’s disease feels as if your own body is a ticking time bomb. Fortunately, I’ve been lucky and nothing extreme has happened. I hope it doesn’t, but if anything happens, I won’t go down without a fight.”
— Chris
Since his initial diagnosis twelve years ago, Chris has kept vigilant with yearly scans, MRIs and x-rays to monitor his condition. With tumours in his knee, ankle, pelvic bone and leg, Chris remains positive despite having lived with the disease for many years.
‘Initially, my biggest concern was what effect it would have on my family and what the future would be like. It was all new and a huge shock,” says Chris. “I constantly struggled and questioned everything for the first four years, including studying, because I was terrified something cancerous or malignant would just pop up and be the end of me.’
‘It made me grow up fast – I missed out on those early adult years where you get to just have fun and not have countless worries bothering you. I went from being a teenager to having my whole world turned upside down from one specialist visit.’
A NOTE OF THANKS
Thank you Chris for organising the incredible Defeat Cancer Apex Tournament event and to the streamers who volunteered their time to help raise funds for our brilliant early-career cancer researchers. A big shout out to Logitech, Blue Microphones, MSI Australia, GGWP Academy for contributing prizes to the tournament.
“Many of us know someone in our close circle who has battled with cancer. It’s sadly such a common thing and we should be doing everything we can to save lives. It might even save mine at some point.”
— Chris
To find out more about rare cancers, click here or donate below to help us Cure Cancer for good.
