“It’s like they are saving souls”
Thursday, February 26th, 2026
Here’s something very special. It’s SpecialEffect service user George, his sons and SpecialEffect team members enjoying a GameBlast fundraising livestream in February, playing Minecraft together on a variety of platforms.
The special difference is that George has motor neurone disease and was playing Minecraft online using just his eyes. Here’s his story:
“I’m George, father of two brilliant boys and husband to my wonderful wife. I used to work in the TV industry but four years ago I was diagnosed with MND and I became disabled fairly quickly.”
“At the time our children were only one and four years old. Being able to play Minecraft with my sons is amazing as it’s the only place I can run around with them and do something active like mining and building.”
“It is also great for them to see me running and flying around. I loved how excited our eldest son was when I first joined him in his Minecraft world. And fighting the Ender Dragon together was so much fun! He now builds complex worlds and I can’t quite get my head around how he does it.”
“I wanted to fundraise for SpecialEffect to give something back to them as they have done a lot for me and my family. The idea is to run the equivalent of a marathon in Minecraft to raise funds for the charity. But also to spread awareness of what is possible for people in a similar situation.”
It was an easy choice to fundraise for SpecialEffect. They help people with physical disabilities around the world to have freedom within the gaming world and be equal without judgement.”
“Going from being fully abled to disabled can easily feel like your soul is fading and everything is going downhill but I’ve had lots of positive experiences since my diagnosis and a lot of them thanks to these technologies.”
“Every person they help it’s like they are saving their souls. So I hope people donate whatever they can to help continue their incredible work and save more souls.”
The stream has raised over £1000 and we simply can’t thank George and his sons enough. If you’d like to join hundreds of other GameBlast gamers around the world who are streaming from 27 February – 1 March, sign up here.