Online Gamers Meet IRL After One Falls Terminally Ill

A group of gamers who had forged a friendship online finally met face-to-face after one of their group fell ill.

Congregating by the bedside of Joe - who is receiving treatment for cancer - the six men have come together after years of playing games online.

According to reports, Joe, 23, had been diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma and is now living in a hospice centre.

While the circumstances that finally brought these six together is tragic, the image of them grouped together has sent a heartwarming message of friendship after it was shared on Reddit by David Miller, from New Brunswick, Canada.

PA

Speaking to the BBC, David said: "We played pretty much everything.

"We played all the time. Even if we weren't playing games we would be just hanging out talking about anything.

"We always had an idea we would eventually meet up, but after finding out that our time was limited we knew we had to do it sooner rather than later.

"We all knew we had to do it. We just hung out like we had done it 1,000 times before.

"It meant everything, especially to Joe. There were definitely tears.

"It was a dream we have had since the beginning and it's amazing that it came true."

Millertime166/Reddit

It just goes to show the strong relationships that can be formed via the medium of gaming, even if you're across the globe. As seen in the image above, these guys formed a bond for life, despite never meeting before now.

The Reddit community was fully on board with their message of love, with users describing it as 'absolutely amazing' and 'so special', as well as upvoting the image by 150,000 times.

One person commented: "Gaming creates super tight communities. It's honestly crazy what people do for each other."

Another also wrote: "When sombody argues that gaming is antisocial and spreads negativity I'd like to show them this photo."

It's a bittersweet message, one that's made so tragic by Joe's illness and the fact that these guys finally got together under such sad circumstances.

But it's also a fantastic portrayal of friendship and camaraderie found within the gaming community, and proof that it's perhaps not always as antisocial as many make it out ot be.

Thoughts go out to Joe and his family, but also to the gamers who took to his bedside and showed what real companionship looks like.

Topics: GAMING, World News, News, Reddit

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Daisy is a UK-based freelance journalist with too many opinions. She loves everything film and music-related and has a track record writing for Little White Lies, BWRC, and Film Daily. Contact her at [email protected]