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Nintendo lets terminal cancer patient play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate early

Nintendo lets terminal cancer patient play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate early

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A heartwarming tale

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Chris Taylor, like any Nintendo fan, is hyped to see that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is shaping up to be mashup fighter of epic proportions, but unlike most of us, the 21-year-old is not sure he’ll live long enough to see the Switch game on store shelves. Taylor has terminal cancer and has been given months to live, so his friends started a social media campaign to get Nintendo’s attention.

Over the last week, Smash Bros. fans on Twitter and Reddit have lobbied Nintendo to let Taylor play Ultimate before he passes; these posts have gotten thousands of signal boosts from fans who were touched by Taylor’s situation.

“I am a little worried that Smash’ll be out of reach for my lifespan though and that mega sucks if I’m being real with yall,” Taylor wrote on Twitter on September 12th. The next day, Taylor continued his thoughts by saying, “December is a long way away for someone who is already bedridden. I know its childish to dispair over a video game but Smash means a lot to me and when Ultimate looks soo good it breaks my heart. Sorry to be sad on main during hype time but hearing about things like Smash and DMC5 is starting to become painful to listen and reminds me i won’t be able to play these games I’ve been waiting years for only for random chance to kill me slowly as soon as they’re announced.”

Taylor has osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that he has been fighting for three years. “I have done more treatment than most, and have contributed to 2 different high risk studies,” Taylor wrote on question-and-answer social media site Curious Cat. Taylor decided not to continue treatment for his terminal condition earlier this year. “I came to this decision from many directions, I’ve done a total of 6 different treatments for my cancer now and they’ve had no noticeable effect, or in once case, made my situation worse,” he wrote on Twitter. According to his doctor’s prognosis, he has anywhere from three to six months to live.

It seems that Nintendo took Taylor’s story to heart: earlier today, the Smash Bros. fan shared images of him playing the E3 demo of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with friends and family following a visit from Nintendo representatives. Taylor and Nintendo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Twitter, Taylor said he was happy to “partake in newcomer hype.”