Seattle Children’s Hospital holds a special place in our hearts at Games For Love. “It’s where my son went for treatment and where the idea for our charity began,” says Founder and CEO, Nathan Blair. “They were the first hospital we partnered with.”

One of the many children who found comfort and joy there is Aria — a name that fittingly means lioness in both Greek and Hebrew. For three years of her young life, Aria fought a courageous battle against high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that began as a tumor above her pituitary gland and spread throughout her body.

“It causes fractures within some of your bones. It causes a lot of pain,” explained her mom, Cecily. Her dad, Patrick, shared, “There’s a lot of low lows… a lot of scary times. We were getting through day to day.”

Aria herself remembers those days vividly. “It was just depressing. You just sit there, getting chemo, medications. You don’t feel good, and it’s just sad.”

At one point, her treatment became so intense that she spent three months in the hospital. Between surgeries and high-dose medications, the hardest part for Aria was losing the chance to interact and play like other kids her age. That’s when something unexpected gave her a spark of joy: video games.

“There was nothing really to do, so we just started gaming and setting up tournaments,” Aria said. She played with nurses, her care team, and anyone willing to challenge her.

The therapeutic gaming team at Seattle Children’s saw the difference it made. “It was just so exciting to see her jump around the bed and be excited to play,” said Maximillian Williams, therapeutic gaming specialist. “Even on their worst days, patients have something to look forward to.”

That healthy distraction helped carry Aria through her darkest days. And this past February, she rang the bell — marking the completion of her cancer treatment. “It was really awesome, because I was done with all of the treatments,” Aria said proudly. Her father added, “Her whole care team was there. Just thinking about all the people she had to go through to get there made it pretty special.”

Today, Aria is cancer-free. She still returns for regular checkups every three months, but her lionhearted spirit continues to shine.

Seattle Children’s Hospital, through partnerships with organizations like Games For Love and Nintendo, ensures that kids like Aria have access to consoles, games, and therapeutic play experiences during their toughest battles.

For us at Games For Love, stories like Aria’s remind us why we do what we do — bringing comfort, play, and moments of joy to children facing unimaginable challenges.

You can be part of this mission. Your donation today helps us expand programs to even more hospitals, reaching children like Aria with hope, joy, and the healing power of play.