After a construction accident left him paralyzed from the neck down 20 years ago, Ken Worrall has been confined to a chair and left in the care of others. For a man who describes himself as an outdoor person before his accident, it sounds like a horrible existence, but “No Hands Ken” has persevered and found a new reason to push on in his life thanks to video gaming and the streaming capabilities of Twitch.
Ken relives his experience in an emotional YouTube called “My Name is Ken,” claiming he was scared and believed that he didn’t want to live at first. However, the thought of his children growing up and meeting his grandchildren provided the his initial push for survival. Now with three grandchildren and his dream coming true, Ken has taken up a new hobby of streaming video games.
He uses a controller powered by his mouth called a Joust suggested by a rehabilitation doctor. He has been practicing with simple point and click games like Diablo III and World of Warcraft ever since, and even though he claims to be a rookie, he has already garnered a large following on his Twitch account who claim he is exceptional at the games he plays.
Not bad for a guy who claims to have only casually played Mario Bros. and Mario Kart in his younger days.
Ken says that the outpouring support from the Twitch community has been overwhelming. He has reached out to other quadriplegics who want to get involved in gaming, he frequently streams gaming sessions with his sons, and his fanbase has even raised the funds to bring him to BlizzCon.
It’s an incredibly inspirational story, and I can only express happiness that Ken has found a new outlet in his life through video gaming.
By Ron Duwell – Source Twitch
You can watch No Hands Ken play on Twitch. Info about the device he uses can be found on the Jouse website.