The poignant diary of a man who suffered from a debilitating muscular disease has revealed how he escaped his life in a wheelchair and became ‘whoever he wanted to be’ in the fictional World of Warcraft universe.
Mats Steen barely left his home in the final years of his life as he battled Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare condition that causes muscle degeneration – and until his death at age 25, his parents believed his life had been lonely.
But soon after his passing, Trude and Robert Steen began to receive hundreds of emails from strangers who seemed to know him extremely well. They learned their son had a popular and fulfilling social life through his personal blog and online roleplaying in the video game.
Mats, who revealed on his incredibly intimate blog that he ‘wasn’t used to being flirted with’, shared romances with fellow gamers and even experienced …