A friend sent me this interview with Space, wc3 pro who plays for go), noa and others before. I felt the story about him is something special and worth sharing. interview can be found on all major wc3 sites. a friend copy/paste me the version from mym website.
Seung Hyun Go)Space Park is no new name in the international Warcraft community, as he has played for the once commendable Team NoA. However, a large portion of the community does not know that the undead player was diagnosed with a rare inveterate muscle disorder which caused him to be disabled at the young age of 11.
What is even more alarming is that the article at Chosun.com writes that due to Space^s disease, there is a huge possibility of him not living over the age of 20.
In a candid interview with the Daegu native, Space declares that his life is no different from most gamers out there.
^Most professional gamers train for 10 hours everyday, excluding one hour for meals. I get up at around 2-3 pm everyday and go to bed at like 3-4am in the morning.^ he says.
However, due to his disability, Space feels that he is unable to accomplish even the simplest tasks alone.
^There is nothing I can do. I cannot read alone and I cannot go out. At least I can move my fingers, so I can play games. But my health is getting worse as time flows, so I am uncertain until when I can do so...^ he laments.
After dropping out of school since fourth grade, Space^s only source of entertainment has been the computer. In the past, his mother worked full time at a restaurant, but with the financial support of the government, she can now afford to stay home in order to spend quality time with her son.
^Other moms say that they are worried about their children getting addicted to computer games. But I^m worried about his fingers getting paralyzed and being unable to play. Doctors have already said that Seung Hyun may not be able to live over 20 years old^ his mother says.
Two years ago, the only parts of his body he could move were his neck and fingers. Afreeca Warcraft League (AWL) caster, Jung Jin Ho admires Space^s willpower as he is a very perseverant player given that he is even unable to bind units by pressing Ctrl + # at his will.
In the previous season of Afreeca Warcraft League (AWL), Space left everyone in awe when he defeated the likes of BeT.WinNers, SK.Lyn and SK.SoJu.
Space understands that there is no remedy for his disease, hence his only wish is to become the greatest Warcraft player.
^My dream is neither not to become a pro-player nor be healthy. But I hope to be the best player in WC3 which is the only thing I can do now to make my family proud.^
^I know there is no cure for me and I do not believe in miracles. I just want to play this game for fun by doing my best and become an undefeatable player and a strong son for my mom^ he says.
The story is both sad and poignant. I think its a worth a read.
That's really sad, but I admire him for his dreams and letting nothing stop him, even his disease he has. Goddamn he must move fast with the mouse to be able to micro and select groups without control hotkeys.
On January 08 2008 01:43 Phantom wrote: i don't imagine sitting in front of a computer all day improves his condition very much =/
I'm pretty sure its pretty much unstoppable by now, if he wants to be a pro gamer and be the best, he's going to do whatever it takes in his short, fragile time.
yea a lot of people dont know this i found out when he first came around, always feel really bad for him. best of luck to him though he definitely deserves it.
On January 08 2008 01:43 Phantom wrote: i don't imagine sitting in front of a computer all day improves his condition very much =/
What else is he going to do? Take a walk? He can't move anything besides his fingers and his neck, it's admirable he still wants to do the best he can with his limited assets.
so is he a pro gamer now? or is he trying to become a pro gamer im kind of unclear on this. either way very impressive story and i wish there was a cure for this kind of thing its really sad to see happen to anyone.
in 2003 me and one friend we were passionnated about SSBM (super smash bros melle ) and we decided to create a site and a forum for the french community, it really attracted a lot of people, at first we had purely just discusion about strat and record but then we decided to make a tournament in Toulouse with 15 person, it was great, we started to make ranks but a player who was not in the first tournament was clearly above all
he was 16 years old and was handicaped he couldnt move his body except his fingers, he stopped class because the doctor said to him that he would die before 20, and he was at his house with his father, mother and his little sister
for the holidays i spent a lot of times with him, he was very good and a nice person, his fingers were not moving very fast but he was a master of mind game, he played link and his surname was masterlink
in 2005 we made a big tournament at his home because he couldnt move away, 60 people were invited french, spanish, italian, english, and a lot more were coming, they were very good and he finished 3rd of this tournament.... very good performance
2 month after, one night i recieved a call from his mother that he died the night before in his sleep, i am very sad, he was one of my best friend, but at least with the help of the video games he had an happy life, he met a lot of people
Wait, so does he use some other method to hotkey units or switch to them asap? Because if he can win without hotkeying anything (or doing something else) that is pretty fucking impressive.
was so inspired i remade my acc to this....love space so much..this just touches ur heart man...
and imagine it seriously...if he COULD ctrl + #...he WOULD probably be so damn good and probably undefeatable...with his condition and beating lyn..soju....bumped..and respect space
Wow, never knew this about him. He can hang with the best korean wc3 players, even with huge disadvantages like not being able to bind groups... pretty amazing
I've messaged someone on gosugamers to find out, also the WC3 scene isn't stagnating, that sounds a bit SC biased. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
On March 07 2012 05:26 Alva` wrote: I know this thread has been dead for years but i would really appreciate it if someone could link a source concerning is current health condition.
Holy shit you scared me! I saw this thread pumped and thought the worst... and first word I saw in your post was dead T_T.
Space is playing is zotac and replayers cups every now and then. His last gosugamers profile entry is over a month old though.
I'm sorry to necro this but according to sources from Korea, Go)Space passes away in the morning of Monday, May 6th 2013 at the age of 23. I'll get a confirmation on this in a while.
It's beyond amazing how good he was even though his condition. Man, this news is sad to me. I loved to follow his games like 6-7 years ago. He was able to beat anyone. RIP
EPT![[image loading]](http://ftp.replays.net/pic/manbu/space2.bmp)
