I am friend of the user LookNoHands119, a Starcraft fanatic and a disabled gamer. He is a quad amputee, which means he has have lost part of all four of his limbs, and he uses a power wheelchair for mobility, and on August 7th 2011, He set out on a year long journey into the world of Starcraft and esports that has taken me from North America to Europe, and all the way to Asia.
The Watson Fellowship gives people money to go have an adventure abroad in something they are passionate about. His Watson project is to learn, for the first time, what it means to be truly competetive as a person with a disability by training Starcraft and experiencing global e-sports culture first hand, and to connect with other disabled gamers to see how technology is actively changing their lives. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of his entire life.
I first met Matt when I went to Korea with some friends. We first met on LiquidJinro's stream just chatting as we were both moderators. I got to know him better, taking up most of Jinro's chat with just our chit chat, as we were both Terran players and in gold league we became quite close. This is one of those few oppurtunities that you really do meet someone that you can get a long with so easily.
When I arrived in Korea we arranged to meet at the GSTL on January 28th, and I reserved a space for him as he was late. I got to meet him and his PCA Cole, a another good friend of mine now. Nowadays I talk to him pretty regularly on skype and play multiple custom games with him on battle.net. He sent me a link to some of his pictures that he took while he was at the IM house and I thought it would be good to share them with you guys, getting to see the IM house
Matt playing the Zerg God
Learning From The Best
Disabled Starcraft 2 Referees
Matt With DRG
GSL Finals
GSL Finals
Busy Korean Streets
Matt (Left) and Cole (Right) at a local Korean Restaraunt
Adam Zippor - A Hopeful Israeli Starcraft 2 Pro
I can sort of relate to the challenges that he has to face from time to time as my mum is disabled and I wish him the best of luck in his endeavours, because I also want to see the disabled gamers community suceed. I hope that at some point in the future, the e-sports community might even be known particularly for including many people with disabilities.
If you would like to help Matt on his adventure, please check out this thread, Here. He is running a 72 hour stream for charity, hoping to gather enough money to stay in Korea for a few more months.
If you would like to play in his tournament, check out this page here to perhaps play the likes (perhaps) idra, HuK or maybe MVP, we just dont know yet!
On March 11 2012 22:25 oGoZenob wrote: "He is running a 72 hour stream for charity, hoping to gather enough money to stay in Korea for a few more months."
Complete respect for the guy. I read he uses a power wheel chair to move around and stuff but could someone please enlighten me as to how he actually plays the game without hands?
On March 11 2012 22:43 ValM wrote: Complete respect for the guy. I read he uses a power wheel chair to move around and stuff but could someone please enlighten me as to how he actually plays the game without hands?
On the first page, somebody posted a little video of him playing. Looks like he just bashes each key? I'd assume he has significantly low APM.
Awesome man, this guy is an inspiration to everyone. God bless him and his amazingly courageous behavior! I wish him the best and he is just such an awesome person, thanks for this!
Wow, it really puts into perspective how capable the human body is if you try hard enough and have enough determination. Thanks for the inspiration Matt and I hope you end up being able to return to Korea!
EPT
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I love this man for everything he does <33
