A couple of months ago, our youngest daughter, Faith, had surgery and had to be in the hospital for several days. We had only expected to be in the hospital for one or two days, so when Faith found out she was going to have to stay longer, she became very discouraged.
Dawn and I did what we could to cheer her up. Playing Connect Four and Mario Kart helped distract Faith from her surroundings for a while, but what seemed to help the most was watching her favorite YouTubers on the iPad we brought along. I captured one of her YouTube sessions in a photo, and tweeted my appreciation:
Thanks @stampylongnose, @iBallisticSquid @Sqaishey & @iHasCupquake for getting my little girl thru her hospital stay. pic.twitter.com/H7nE7xa3zO
— Review Dad (@ReviewDadMedia) April 17, 2015
The next morning, I was thrilled to see the following response:
@ReviewDadMedia I hope she gets well soon 🙂
— Sqaishey (@Sqaishey) April 18, 2015
When Faith awoke, I showed her Sqaishey‘s tweet. And something magical happened: for the first time in several days, Faith smiled. Not just an “oh, that’s nice, now leave me alone” smile. A genuine, joyful smile. As a parent who was struggling (and mostly failing) to keep his sick child’s spirits up, I felt like a massive weight had been lifted.
Two months later, and on the mend, Faith is still faithfully watching Sqaishey and company on YouTube. And every time I hear Sqaishey’s voice coming from the iPad, I’m taken back to that moment in the hospital when a six-word tweet helped us turn a corner.
So thank you, Sqaishey. You’re proof of the healing power of games, and of gamers who care. <3
