Gaming helped me through my MS diagnosis
Miss Purple Pixie has relapsing remitting MS and she met her partner, WochiTV, through online gaming. Find out how they raised £300 for Game Over for MS and how gaming brought them together.
Could you tell us more about how you and WochiTV met?
I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS in 2011 after a prolonged period of being unwell and being in hospital a lot. At the time I was playing a game called World of Warcraft (WoW) and I met WochiTV there. We met in a city in the game called Dalaran. He was stood showing people a companion pet he’d just got.
He was in charge of a guild on our server called Infinity Challenge. I wasn’t sure I wanted to chat to him at all as his guild at the time had a reputation for being “hard core”. And he was a very tough leader, demanding the best during guild raids. However, we started chatting and he invited me to join the guild. We very quickly became friends and chatted for hours and hours.
How did WoW bring you together?
We met in WoW and played together every night. It was the shared loved for gaming that brought us together and we still play WoW most days. Playing together and chatting for hours brought us very close together and we started a long-distance relationship.
At the time we met I was going through my MS diagnosis. I was going to hospital with various symptoms for months and the doctors were unsure what was wrong with me. I live in the UK and WochiTv was living in Milan, and he would phone me to check I was okay.
He was my rock throughout this period and along my MS journey. When I was diagnosed with MS, he was so supportive. He eventually moved to the UK and we’ve been married for nine years now. We had a WoW themed wedding too!
What console do you play the most? And what’s your favourite game?
We are both mainly PC gamers. And I think World of Warcraft will always be my favourite game. It’s given me so much support and, of course, is where I met my husband. I’ve made some very good friends from across Europe and I’ve known some of them for 11 years. So I feel very close to them.
I’m very much a casual player and spend a lot of time collecting mounts, pets and levelling characters. WochiTv likes the “endgame” content of raids and dungeons. I do play other games, mainly massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). I love playing Lost Ark now too.
Why did you take part in Game Over for MS?
Game Over for MS combines our love of gaming with raising awareness and money for the MS Society. So taking part was an easy decision for us. WochiTV streams from Twitch and we normally play World of Warcraft, Genshin Impact.
Watch and follow WochiTV on Twitch
What would your future look like if we stopped MS?
It would mean the world to me if there was something that either stopped the progression of MS or cured it. Just knowing I had a future without my MS progressing be amazing.
Do you have any tips for people who want to take part?
The MS Society does such important work supporting people with MS in the UK. So I would recommend people to take part in Game Over for MS.
When it comes to gaming, find a nice active guild that suits your playstyle and is helpful. Check to see if they have a forum such as Discord or Guilded where you can communicate with everyone in the guild. Use the games accessibility functions as it can make your life a lot easier! Try different classes and see which ones you have the most fun with. Have a go at everything the game has to offer, there is something for most people to enjoy.
It might seem confusing at first and there are a lot of websites with information on how to play WoW. But I play with one hand and there are lots of adaptive technologies out there to help us play games. Most of all, have fun!
