When Carri Hoover learned her 6-year-old son had 12 weeks to live, she turned to her video game community for help.

Not for medical help. Medically speaking, John Hoover is now beyond help. In his left lung alone, there are seven tumours, one of which is blocking a major artery. The cancer, first discovered in his liver when he was 3, has metastasized.

It is inoperable.

But as Carri notes: “John’s story is more complicated than just the cancer itself.”

This is where a video game enters the story. This is how a virtual community delivered joy and comfort to a terminally ill boy.

In 2004, Carri started playing EverQuest 2, a fantasy game that allows players to create characters and explore an online world full of “mysterious lands, intense battles and exciting quests.” In parts of this online world, players can also buy properties that can be customized.

So Carri bought John an island.

John’s island had some grass, a pond and a waterfall. It was removed from the more menacing elements of the game. But most important, it allowed him to do all the things he could not in the real world: run, jump, swim and play.

The sweet, bespectacled boy was born at just 24 weeks after Carri developed preeclampsia during pregnancy. John faced a number of challenges, including developmental delays, reflux, breathing and vision problems. Excessive fluid in his brain was regulated with a cerebral shunt. Impaired motor functioning would mean a walker when he was ready to stand.

Then the prognosis went from achingly bad to unimaginably horrific. The tumours, which now appear on MRIs like enemy fighter jets on a radar screen, were invading John’s already weakened body with merciless speed.

Doctors told his parents the end would arrive within 12 weeks.

“We thought we were cured in about May of 2009,” says Carri, on the line from her home in Alexandria, Va. “But then it came back and it keeps coming back. The disease is progressing rapidly now versus where before we might get one small (tumour) that would pop up and we could remove it.

“Now it’s just too many. They can’t do anything.”

After getting the terrible news on last week, Carri found herself thinking about John and his island, his virtual oasis from the pain he has endured. Not sure what to expect, she posted a comment on an EverQuest 2 forum:

“This is a depressing post but I need some help. My 6 yr old son has cancer and was recently given 6-12 weeks to live. He has a frog that he likes to run around Tenebrous Tangle Island on; however, it is sparse and he has requested to add trees, fences, stairs, animals and all kinds of other items to make his island fun and exciting.

“Are there any decorators out there that would be willing to assist in adding these items (and any others their imagination poses) to help me make the island even more fun for him? I don’t know how much I’ll be able to accomplish on my own while still providing him quality time to enjoy it.”

Carri hit “post” and, soon after, her faith in humanity was reaffirmed. The EverQuest 2 community promised to transform John’s little island into a breathtaking blur of sights and activities to keep him occupied over the next few weeks.

“The response was just an avalanche of love and compassion,” says Carri.

People from all over the world, from all walks of life, jumped in and offered to decorate, build, transfer items, show up and celebrate — whatever the family needed. His new island, which was unveiled on Saturday during an EverQuest 2 “event” that attracted hundreds of players, was revamped in a matter of days.

Strangers spent real money to help. Others spent countless hours working on decorations for the island, adding features the boy could stumble upon while moving his own character, a frog named “ribbitribbit.”

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“He doesn’t quite grasp the connection between the virtual world and the people behind it,” says Carri.

But when he noticed a bunch of new characters on the island, John turned to his parents and asked, “Is this a party for me?”

As ribbitribbit explored, John’s eyes widened behind his glasses.

There were two tree houses. There were ramps and a climbing wall. There was a jungle gym with a slide, swing set and a roller coaster. There was a castle with pirates. There were books other players had written and added to new rooms.

Beyond the island, the players also created three new houses for the boy, including one with a Christmas theme.

John used the space bar and arrow keys to navigate. A broad grin spread across his face as fireworks illuminated the night sky.

“I have never seen so many people just rally like that ever,” says Carri. “It brings such a huge smile to my face. I am so overwhelmed.”

When the family moved to Virginia from California, between work and their son’s ongoing care, there was little time to socialize or make new friends. But the gamers on EverQuest 2 filled this void, giving Carri a powerful sense of community, even if it was pixilated.

“Believe it or not, a lot of my coping has come from the Everquest 2 2community,” she says. “Many of them have been with me since he was premature. I didn’t really want to tell my friends that we had six to 12 weeks left. It was just too painful. But I really wanted to get his island decorated.”

John, meanwhile, has remained blissfully upbeat. He knew there were “things” in his body that needed to be removed. He does not know this is now impossible. His innocence and sweetness — two weeks ago, after a doctor removed a tube from his chest, he blurted out, “Thank you! Thank you for taking my tube out!” — has kept his parents grounded through an ordeal few of us can imagine.

“He’s really what gets me through this,” says Carri. “He can always smile and always laugh. He hardly cries about anything that’s done to him. For as many times as he has to get poked for blood draws and medicine and everything, he is just phenomenal.”

vmenon@thestar.ca