27 Feb 2020

Kati van der Hoeven announced as Honorary VP

We’re delighted to formally announce that Kati van der Hoeven has agreed to become an Honorary Vice-President of the charity. She is a writer, blogger and winner of the JCI Finland young achiever award.

Kati is paralysed and unable to speak following a stroke when she was twenty. She is an exceptionally talented eye-gaze technology user and is the author of ‘Living Underwater: A true story of laughter, love, hope and happiness in the face of extreme adversity.’

"I’m absolutely delighted that Kati has kindly agreed to be an Ambassador for SpecialEffect," said our CEO Dr Mick Donegan. "She has been an inspiration both to myself and people all over the world for many years."

Mick recently visited Kati in Finland to introduced her our Eye Gaze Games website.

“I am honoured to be part of the organisation. I have Locked-In Syndrome, which means that I am almost entirely paralysed and I cannot speak. Knowing from my own experience how much difference technology can make to the quality of life of people with disabilities, my goal in everything I do is to help others who are in a similar situation to myself. As part of the SpecialEffect team I can do so even more.”

Below: Kati trying eye-controlled gaming with SpecialEffect CEO Dr Mick Donegan