MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
He was known to his adoring fans as Technoblade, a young YouTuber who streamed himself playing Minecraft, the world-building fantasy game. He was good at it, winning 1,800 games in a row by his account, and funny in a Minecraft sort of way, once falsely giving his name as Dave just to throw people off. While Technoblade kept his identity private, in August 2021, he confided to his followers that he had been diagnosed with sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "WHERE I'VE BEEN")
TECHNOBLADE: They ran a couple of scans. And then, they came back, and they told me that the reason my arm hurts is because I have cancer. I feel a bit silly talking about this with Minecraft in the background. It feels a bit out of place, but...
BLOCK: He'd go on to raise more than half a million dollars for the Sarcoma Foundation of America. On Thursday, his father announced on YouTube that Technoblade had died. In the video titled "So Long Nerds," his father read a statement from his son.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "SO LONG NERDS")
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Reading) If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again every single time as those were the happiest years of my life. I hope you guys enjoyed my content and that I made some of you laugh. And I hope you all go on to live long, prosperous and happy lives because I love you guys. Technoblade out.
BLOCK: His real name, the message said, was Alex. He was 23.
(SOUNDBITE OF C418'S "MINECRAFT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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