In an act of kindness and generosity, Core Gaming (which represents Nintendo in South Africa) has donated six Nintendo DS Lite handheld consoles, as well as accompanying copies of Professor Layton and the Curious Village, to the haematology ward of South Africa’s Groote Schuur Hospital in an effort to help chemotherapy patients there pass the time with some interactive entertainment.

Patients in the ward undergoing chemotherapy and receiving bone marrow transplants spend an average of six weeks in an isolation room to prevent infection, with little to do to pass the time other than watch television.

In addition, these patients are usually from out of town, which means that visits from friends and family during the six week isolation period can be infrequent, and as a result of this isolation and lack of mental stimulation, patients can rapidly find themselves becoming depressed.

Enter Eldré Strydom, MD of the non-profit organisation People Living With Cancer, who together with social worker Nomalizo Sineke, began to search for a solution to this serious problem of patient depression – a search that led to Core Gaming, which offered to supply the haematology ward with products from Nintendo that have been able to successfully entertain millions of people worldwide.

General Manager of Core Gaming Matthew Grose said of the donation:

“When we heard about the plight of the patients in Groote Schuur’s Haematology ward, we immediately thought of the Nintendo DS Lite game, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which is guaranteed to keep players entertained for hours at a time.

“We have decided to donate six Nintendo DS Lite consoles, along with the game to the hospital – a console for each isolation room within the ward - so there will always be something fun and stimulating for the patients to do,” he said.

Eldré Strydom is also excited over the prospect of the games helping patients on their road to recovery by keeping their minds busy:

“We are thrilled to be able to hand over the Nintendo DS Lites and games to the Groote Schuur Haemotology ward because we know they will provide such welcome relief to patients.

“I also believe that by giving the patients something with which to pass the time, these games could greatly improve their cancer journey in terms of their mental alertness, psychological wellbeing and the ability to stay positive.”

If you want to know about the condition treated at the haematology ward at the hospital, Dr. Andrew McDonald, Consultant Clinical Heamatologist at Groote Schuur Hospital and UCTPAH and Chairman of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee of South African Haemophilia Foundation, explains the unique treatment process for Acute Leukaemia used at Groote Schuur Hospital:

“Acute Leukaemia is one of the most common cancers affecting young children and adults, and, with intensive chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplant, can be cured. Many centers in South Africa are treating children and adults with chemotherapy, but Groote Schuur Hospital is the only state hospital in the country that has a fully-fledged and active bone marrow transplant program.

“Many patients are referred to us from hospitals in other cities for this procedure, and are thus away from home for a long period, sometimes with few support structures.

“Bone marrow transplant is a procedure that involves high dose chemotherapy (and sometimes radiotherapy) and subsequent infusion of the stem cells harvested either from the patients themselves (prior to this procedure), a brother or sister, or unrelated donor.

“Whilst it is not an operation, people may become very ill; for many however, they are relatively well for long periods, but need to remain in isolation. Thus we welcome any intervention that improves the quality of life of our patients in hospital, and mental stimulation is essential in this regard. We believe this will greatly enhance the overall quality of care that we are able to give to our patients.”