“My two favorite aspects of online gaming are the comradery with friends no matter where they live, and being competitive where I’m not able to in the physical world.” – Hawken Miller, DUG Panelist and Gamer
Duchenne United Gaming (DUG) is a Duchenne muscular dystrophy disease awareness initiative brought to you by PTC Therapeutics and CureDuchenne. The October 10 DUG Champion Competition will feature Hawken Miller and four other gamers with Duchenne (James Wood, Wil Cook, Chris Younkin and Adrien Quintero) competing in a Rocket League tournament via the online gaming platform Twitch. As panelists, these young men were also integral to the development and planning of this global rare disease event.
“My two favorite aspects of online gaming are the comradery with friends no matter where they live, and being competitive where I’m not able to in the physical world,” explains Hawken.
For this PC gamer, Duchenne might present a challenge when it comes to mobility, but it doesn’t affect his ability to socialize and form alliances: “Gaming has made me better at teamwork. Without your teammates calling out where enemies are, watching your back and cheering you on, the probability of losing is much higher.
“(Gaming has) also helped my communication, mostly because, while streaming, I need to explain the actions I take in a game,” he says. “Each of those skills has been valuable in my work and social relationships.”
Hawken hopes DUG can bring attention to his rare disease so that other young boys can benefit from therapeutic advances and maybe even a cure: “While there are currently approved…treatments, no complete cure exists, and a lot of research still needs to be done. As we wait, more lives full of potential are going to be cut short.”
For information about the DUG Champion Competition, please visit CureDuchenne.org.