Cancer sucks! Geek News Now’s very own Devin Stewart and his wife Becky Stewart are battling it the best way then know how. They recently completed a 12 hour stream marathon. The event was to raise awareness for for Devin’s cousin, Whitney Willey, who is currently battling stage 4 lymphoma.
Devin and Becky started the stream with Crash Bandicoot and followed it up with Spryo and then some Mario with friends and topped it all off with a thrilling Dungeons and Dragons campaign involving family members of Devin. I recently had the opportunity to speak with him about his stream and the cause for which they were raising money. Devin also gave the incentive that if $500 USD was raised he would shave his head live on the stream.
David Furr (DF): So a 12 hour stream. How did you prepare both physically and mentally for a marathon stream like this?
Devin Stewart (DS): A 12 hour marathon stream only works with a plan. More than 2 weeks went into the planning, and coordination behind the scenes. The more work you do ahead of time the easier it is the day of. We had everything almost automated from a technical standpoint. Every game setup already, multiple screens on the computer were used to coordinate everything. This made the day of for the event far easier, and we could focus on the interaction and energy. Both Becky (Wolf) and I (Retro) traded off in the early part of the day to allow for rest, food, drink, and bathroom breaks.
DF: This was a fund raiser for your cousin Whitney. How much money was raised and is the Gofundme page still open for people to donate to?
DS: During the marathon stream we raised $1795, with an additional $155 raised off stream so far. The link is still active and can be seen at https://gofund.me/09a16551
DF: What were your cousins thoughts on this venture? Is she a geek at heart and get into it?
DS: Whitney and her family have commented to me how much they appreciated it, and they were in the chat throughout the day participating as well.
DF: You gave out some prizes for your audience. Tell us a little bit about those.
DS: We wanted to have 6 items available throughout the stream for 2 hour windows each. We had a custom 3D printed Crash Bandicoot model, a 3D printed Spyro the Dragon model provided and painted by Becky and I. Some slate and wooden coasters etched with “#WhitneyStrong”, and 2 handmade wooden American Flags all donated by “Stewart Flags and Such”. Whitney’s mom also had some #WhitneyStrong shirts donated as well.
One of the prizes given out on the stream
DF: If you watched the stream you know that Devin shaved his head in solidarity. How are you adjusting to your new hairdo? Has anyone else in your family done the same?
DS: I was born with a full head of hair and have never been bald a day in my life so it has taken some getting used to, but I really don’t mind honestly. During the later part of the stream, two of our really good friends, Jay and Amanda, came over to help us and Jay shaved his head and large beard off as well. When my cousin had to get her hair cut after the chemo, her husband shaved his head, and then the barber who cut their hair also shaved his head in solidarity with her.
Devin Shaves his head in solidarity of Whitney who is battling cancer
DF: We here at GNN wish your cousin all the best in her battle against this cancer. Is there anything else you’d like to add about that?
DS: It is no secret that her cancer has progressed to stage 4 lymphoma. It’s tough to process. Whitney has shown amazing grace, and faith throughout. Her and her husband own a flooring business in Indiana, Willey Flooring, Inc. They have been unable to work as her husband, Austyn, has been taking care of her and the kids. If anyone is feeling able and wants to donate to the Gofundme, it would be a tremendous help to her and the family.
DF: Tell us about the games played and was there a special significance for the titles chosen or was it just random?
DS: When we knew we were doing the 12 hour marathon stream, the first thought I had was to reach out and find out if Whitney and Austyn had any favorite games. They were big fans of Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon, so we made sure we played those on stream. Later in the day we did a “Mario Block” with our friends Jay and Amanda and played Mario Kart 8, as well as Mario Party 2. We finished the night by playing Dungeons and Dragons with our regular crew, which included myself, my parents (the owners of “Stewart Flags and Such”), Jay, Amanda, and our close friend Kadin, with Becky as our Dungeon Master.
As of the writing of this article $2000 USD has been raised for Whitney’s battle with cancer.
Devin (Retro) and Becky (Wolf) can both be seen on their twitch channel playing many other great games. Devin also writes many great article for Geek News Now.
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