Gaming fundraiser organised for children’s hospice to celebrate the life of a young gamer
To celebrate the life of a young boy, a gaming fundraiser; Noah’s Legacy Laps, has been organised in his memory.
9 year old Noah was a keen gamer and avid watcher of YouTube with dreams of becoming a professional YouTuber. When he became unwell and developed life-limiting complications, his love of gaming lead him into an incredibly caring community of online friends.
Noah, from Taunton, loved playing games and watching streams of others playing, his favourite being channels that showed Mario Kart being played.
Noah would get his homework done as quickly as possible so he could enjoy watching the streams in the evening and Noah’s Mum Hannah inevitably ended up watching too. Noah started watching a stream by a gamer called Cheesepopps, and Hannah equates him to the ‘crazy fun uncle’. Noah loved watching his streams and being part of the small, friendly audience who quickly got to know him. Hannah started to realise this online collective of gamers was such a positive, supportive community for them both.
I really want people to understand the importance of online communities and how they can be just as important as real-life communities” Hannah says.
“People would recognise me in stream and know that if I was there that Noah was there too watching bright eyed and excited. They would talk to him, keep him in mind, ask him how he was doing in school or with homework.”
A few months after becoming part of this community, Noah ended up becoming unwell and developing life-limiting complications. He had a severely compromised immune system, which meant that playing with friends inside or outside, or even being at school was potentially dangerous for him.
Hannah explains; “It got lonely and difficult, but these streamers, who knew about the issues going on with Noah, made him feel loved, welcome, and special. It gave him hours of joy, hours where he could forget about what he was enduring and where people wanted to ask about him and make sure he was having the best time possible.
“There were nights I couldn't sleep, and when streams went live in the day, they would sometimes let Noah chat while I just took a nap. They would be sure to keep an eye out for my name on the chat boards and would give Noah extra attention which granted me a few more minutes of sleep. Cheesepopps would even sacrifice his own chances of becoming Twitch Partner by ensuring to take time every single Friday to play Mario Kart with Noah and a few select members of the online community and always made sure that Noah was first in line.”
When Noah was too uncomfortable to sleep, he would watch streams into the night with mum Hannah by his side. He was a loved member of the community by both streamers and chatters too, all helping him to feel included, special and making sure he knew how much he was loved by everyone.
Hannah shares how this support developed through Noah’s illness: “As his health failed, I had a steady stream of well wishes for him. Messages of kindness, of hope, of strength and of love from all over the world.
“When Noah passed away in January 2023, the community mourned together and expressed so much love for him. They continued to reach out and check in on me, and still do. I am still a part of this community that Noah dragged me to nearly 3 years ago. They were his friends and his supporters, his cheer squad and his idols.
Today they are helping me every day to carry on his memory, his legacy. To help me create and cultivate it. They were, are, and will forever be our family.
Hannah, along with key members of the gaming community, is now planning a gaming fundraiser; Noah's Legacy Laps .The online gaming fundraiser will be happening on Sunday 25 August at 7pm to coincide with Noah’s 11th birthday on the 27 August. Anyone with an interest in gaming can watch the stream on Twitch and help raise vital funds to support children like Noah while enjoying Mario Kart.
Noah’s Legacy Laps is part of CHSW’s digital fundraising initiative, Game On, which encourages gamers to do their own gaming fundraiser through a live stream, a workplace gaming challenge or a gaming tournament with friends and help raise vital funds for CHSW and it’s 3 children’s hospices.