When Ninja met SpecialEffect - and Zack
0When Microsoft offered us the chance to catch up with streamer megastar Ninja, he was blown away by our EyeMine software that lets you play Minecraft with your eyes. And there was one person we really wanted him to meet - Zack - and an amazing way to do it!
Zack was six when his Leukaemia returned after several years of remission. He became very ill and was confined to his isolation room in hospital for more than six weeks where only his parents could visit him.
During this time his love of Fortnite came alive. It was the only connection he had to his brother and cousins and is still one of the main ways he gets to chat with his friends - his immunity is still weakened and he’s now isolated at home.
But now he’s able to be part of school life again via a little robot that sits on his desk in his classroom. He can speak to and see his classmates and teacher from home via an iPad.
It’s all thanks to our BubbleBusters project, which provides the robots and the support needed to make this inclusion a reality.
And when we heard there was a chance to meet the biggest Fortnite streamer on the planet, we took Zack’s robot to London and through it he got to meet his idol Ninja. They discussed all things Fortnite: favourite guns, favourite dances and of course, favourite skins. And to finish a wonderful meeting, Ninja even showed Zack the Christmas lights of Oxford Circus.
“You’ve made Zack so happy!” said his mother.
SpecialEffect is a UK-based charity that helps people with physical disabilities to play video games. Find out more about their work - including EyeMine - at https://www.specialeffect.org.uk