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It is an online spaceship simulator set in a 1:1 scale approximation of the Milky Way galaxy, giving each player the freedom to explore its vast, austere beauty. In an act of despondence, I sent a tweet, which started something bittersweet and amazing.Įlite Dangerous had become a vital component of Michael’s care package. I'm thankful that it's there as a coping mechanism though, at least while he's still capable. It's heartbreaking watching my nephew squinting at the screen as he strives to achieve his #EliteDangerous goals, knowing that he'll likely never achieve them. We watched helplessly as this isolated, disabled and lonely autistic teenager unknowingly faced his final days. There was nothing anybody could do for him after almost six years of debilitating illness, all medical treatments had been exhausted or were no longer viable. On 14 May, I stood in Michael’s room in Addenbrooke’s hospital, Cambridge, trying to process the inevitability of his death.Īt that moment, he was perched on his hospital bed playing a racing game on his Xbox, squinting at the screen obscured by his swollen face.

I know it was Michael’s wish to celebrate the generosity he was shown, so I’ve written this account of how Frontier and friends made the intolerable last days of a 15-year-old boy infinitely better.

In Michael’s last week of life, thanks to the Elite Dangerous player community, a whole network of new friends sprang up in our darkest hour and made things more bearable with a magnificent display of empathy, kindness and creativity. Online in his favourite game, Elite Dangerous by Frontier Developments, he was known as CMDR Michael Holyland. He loved his family, tractors, lorries, tanks, spaceships and video games (mostly about tractors, lorries, tanks and spaceships), and confronted every challenge in his short, difficult life with a resolute will that earned him much love and respect.