by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

One of the main reasons why I created BlizzPro is because I love the community of gamers around Blizzard games. I’ve been working for fansites for over 15 years now and Blizzard specific fansites for over 10. I’ve never once made a dime doing this work, but what keeps me going is because of the community and the difference that I can help make within it.

When we have fans and friends of our team reach out to us because they need help in some way, I don’t hesitate to help them out. This is no different.

The Hearthstone community in particular is pretty awesome. Yeah, we can be a pretty salty bunch, but we stick up for our own. Ariannwyn is one of these community members that needs our help. She’s a co-host on the Legend of the Innkeeper podcast and her and her team are big fans of BlizzPro and our Well Met Podcast. We know that if we ever needed help that they would be right there helping support us, so it’s a no brainer that we do the same.

Ariannwyn needs eye surgery. Her insurance will pick up a good chunk of the tab but there is still a significant out of pocket cost that her and her family simply can’t afford. Her team is currently running a 24 hour live stream to help support her. If you can afford to pitch in a few dollars please do so. If you can’t afford to do so and still want to help, simply come and hang out in the chat room, watch some Hearthstone, and share this with you friends. Every little bit helps. They are nearing the 50% mark but still have a long ways to go.

You can watch the live stream here: http://www.twitch.tv/LOTIPodcast

You can donate here: https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/f7r8/eye-surgery-for-emily-eason-ariannwyn-#

You can read their press release below:

Hearthstone Community Comes Together To Help Podcaster During Her Time Of Need

Saturday, May 23, 2015 – For the last 14 hours, fans and followers of both Hearthstone and the Legend of the Innkeeper podcast have come together to support one of the co-hosts as he streams for straight 24 hour period in order to help raise funds for Ariannwyn. Ariannwyn (Emily) has recently been diagnosed with Esotropia (a mis-alignment of the eyes) and is going to require an unexpected surgery in order to correct her vision.

Esotropia typically occurs from birth and within the first three months the eyes will gradually come into more consistent alignment as they grow. If discovered at an older age, fixing the mis-alignment is much more difficult because the brain has become accustomed to having to correct the issue and it usually requires surgery to permanently correct.

In January of 2015, she started experiencing 3 weeks of intense double vision in the mornings and after several eye appointments, the Ophthalmologist explained that surgery was the only course of action at this point. She realized at that point, that she had been having double vision issues for years but her brain had been trying very hard to compensate but it just couldn’t do it any longer.

She’s been working part time, and studying to become a 3d Modeler but she just isn’t able to continue driving herself to and from work. At 21 years of age, there really is no other choice but it doesn’t come at a inexpensive price. The overall surgery is expected to cost somewhere between $10,000-$14,000 but thankfully insurance that will cover a large portion of the cost. However, coming up with the out of pocket expenses of $5,000 is more than her family is able to come up with.

That’s where the community got involved. Ariannwyn and her father, Vastidious, are 2 of the hosts of the Legend of the Innkeeper podcast. It’s a podcast that covers the casual side of Hearthstone game play. Their co-host, Espo, wanted to do something to help with the expenses and he decided to run a 24-hour stream on Twitch.tv to raise funds to help defray some of that cost. So far the community has come out in force, raising more than $2,000 towards the goal of $5,000, most of that in the last 14 hours. “It’s a testament to the awesome community that we have around this podcast. Our fans and listeners are amazing and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it!” says Espo.

The stream will continue for the next 10 hours until 7pm EST with hopes that they can further close the gap. If you want to join in the fun, visit the stream at http://www.twitch.tv/LOTIPodcast. You can also visit the GiveForward campaign page for more information and to donate. https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/f7r8/eye-surgery-for-emily-eason-ariannwyn-#