Rewind to 2013: Shaz’s 24-year wait is over

Monday, September 5th, 2022

Tag Icon used for categories

“Life-changing moments? Mine was my first visit to SpecialEffect.”

Shaz is a media developer, disability advocate and a lifelong gamer. He has cerebral palsy, and although he could play a limited range of games before we met him nearly a decade ago, his ambition was to be able to play first person shooter games. By carefully matching a selection of accessible gaming technology to his abilities, our specialist assessment team opened up a way for him to join the action.

“When they help you play Call of Duty for the first time after 24 years of gaming,” he says on this amazing video from 2013, “It’s hard to put those feelings into words.”

It’s been an honour to support Shaz as his gaming ambitions have expanded further, and in return he’s supported us on countless occasions through fundraising, advocacy, events, media work and awareness-raising. We’re proud that he’s a great friend of the charity and one of our valued Ambassadors.

Talking to him recently about that first visit, he recalls the realisation of the huge potential that that would develop into a lifelong partnership:

“Not only was I introduced to amazing innovative technology that would change my life forever, but to know that there was an amazing team working around the clock to improve the quality of living for people with disabilities was itself inspiring.”

SpecialEffect have been helping gamers like Shaz enjoy the titles they love to the best of their abilities for 15 years, so join us on One Special Day on October 7 and help us keep the magic flowing for gamers worldwide!

OSD Logo