Medicine Hat Regional Hospital’s pediatrics unit receives gaming system from Medicine Hat College students

Instructor Kristina Hyde said all of they’re hard work has already payed off.

“I think that parents and children, when they learn we have an Xbox One Series X, will be overjoyed and so excited. The first patient that used it was a high school student and he could not believe that he got to play it,”Hyde said.

“He was just so excited and I think that for a second he forgot that he was in pain, or that he was recovering or that he was sick. He just felt like a kid again and that’s what we aim to bring and I think we did that,” she said.

The Xbox is equipped with multiple games, including Minecraft, Tetris and Madden Football.

But it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Days after the initial installation, the system overheated and needed to be repaired.

But now, with it fixed and here to stay, student Serina Grona said she hopes future semesters will follow in here classes footsteps.

“I think that they can take away that you can always make a difference in the community,” Grona said.

“But e-sports, it’s a sport now. So giving back to the community and showing that [system] now, it’s a great way to build further into the SEMM program,” she said.

Months after the journey started, it’s now in the hands of patients where student Rebecca Hirsch said it belongs. Hirsch said that she hopes the stigma around e-sports starts to get lifted because of projects like this.

“I think it’s important to note that there’s some stigma around some e-sports games and even e-sports in general and I think it’s important for people to understand that e-sports can be used in a variety of ways and should be seen like traditional sports,” Hirsch said.

“Especially with this project, now seeing what we can do and see that potentially there is an escape for some children to get away from that illness or pain that they’re suffering and to just feel like a kid again,” she said.

“I think that’s super important for the community to be aware of.”

For Hyde, it’s going to be hard to raise the bar for future students, but it’s a challenge she said she’s looking forward to tackling.

“The Health Foundation is always needs so much more help and so many more things. They have a massive list and we’re going to tackle something each year,” Hyde said.

“I’m always going to provide the opportunity for my students to pick a project that’s meaningful to them because they will work even harder if it’s meaningful,” she said.

“This project for my e-sports class was the perfect match.”

by Adrian St.Onge

Medicine Hat Regional Hospital’s pediatrics unit receives gaming system from Medicine Hat College students

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