"Thank you, Niantic"

#PokemonGO: Thank you, Niantic for giving me the opportunity to get my aunt out of the house and have some fun for the short time we had left. In February 2018, my family received the tragic news that my aunt suffered from a rare genetic condition called shwachman-diamond syndrome. It’s a complicated disease, but essentially my aunt was unable to create her own blood and platelets and had to receive blood transfusions about every week or so to keep her counts up. When I got back from college in May, I redownloaded POGO so I could take her out in my car so we could get some pokestops and catch some stuff. Her immune system was weak, and doctors cautioned her to stay away from crowds and not to work. POGO was a blessing of a game for her because it allowed for her to get out of the house and outside without having to be near people. My uncle and I would often take her out on the weekends—especially during community and raid days. Moltres Day was one of her better days during her fight with her illness. She was able to get out of the car and walk some to the raid locations. Raiding excited her and she wanted us to all click to reveal the pokemon at the same time to see who got a shiny. We would always joke around because she always had the best of luck.As the months passed by, my aunt’s transplant kept getting pushed back due to infections that would cause complications during the procedure. Therefore, her blood condition resulted in her development of leukemia. She remained positive nonetheless and became determined to get her transplant. My uncle stayed with her at the hospital and I transferred to a local university to stay close to her. When my aunt had to be isolated in her due to her infections, she was then unable to leave her hospital room. Because of this, my uncle would log onto her account while she was asleep and hatch eggs for her. He would then come back and let her go through the animation of them hatching because that was her favorite part. (Whenever she hatched one she would always say “oh?”) After her second round of chemo, she began to go through liver failure and passed away in December of 2018. POGO was a blessing for my aunt because it provided her with a distraction and a way to feel normal again while going through her disease. It was one of her favorite things to go out and do with my uncle and me because it gave us a fun goal and let her get out of the house some. POGO was able to put a smile on her face and keep her positive during her fight with her sickness. Due to the memories and fun times that the game provided me with my aunt, I am eternally grateful. Thank you, Niantic.Shwachman-Diamond Foundation​ via /r/pokemongo http://bit.ly/2Amesvl