A TEENAGER has been granted her wish to have a gaming PC by the charity Make-A-Wish UK – and said it’s boosted her confidence by allowing her to be whoever she wants to be.

Sophie Stubbenhagen, 14, who recently moved to Liphook, is living with spinal muscular atrophy – a genetic condition that makes muscles weaker. She was diagnosed when she was just 18 months old and is due to undergo spinal surgery.

Sophie, who is well known in the community because of her pink wheelchair, found out about Make-A-Wish UK through her one-to-one support worker at school who used to volunteer for the charity.

As travel wasn’t an option because of Covid-19, Sophie chose for her wish to have a gaming PC. It’s meant she can comfortably play more complex games and make new friends. She typically plays Roblox or Sims.

Now Sophie’s story is featuring in a campaign to help raise enough money to grant 100 wishes to other children all over the UK as part of “Wish 100 Week”, which kicks off on July 19.

The campaign unites gaming brands and streamers in the challenge to raise £200,000 through live streams and donations.

It’s an urgent fundraising drive after hundreds of wishes were put on hold during the pandemic and after research showed 63,000 young people in the UK are eligible for a wish right now because of their diagnosis. That figure is set to grow.

Make-A-Wish has seen a fourfold increase in demand for technology and game-related wishes in the past four years. They are one of the wishes the charity has been able to grant during lockdown. But they’ve also becoming popular because they aid well-being.

Sophie said gaming boosted her confidence, adding: “I really like survival and lifestyle games, running a life. With Sims it’s that someone is there and they can do what I can’t do. It’s like the extension to my life.

“In Roblox, it’s the same: a load of online friends. I am in a wheelchair I can’t do those things, but I can be a team as my character. It literally is an equal.

“At first on Roblox I didn’t say I was in a wheelchair, and on the voice chat I would never speak. Now, after three years, I do and they know I’m in a wheelchair and I have them on Insta. I now talk to people. They were going to find out on Insta so I told them anyway. Meeting those people made me more confident.

“I don’t think most people understand and think it’s just a game. But I would say, it lets me go into another world. It’s an escape and I can be whoever I want to be.

“Gaming is something I can look forward to. If I’ve had a challenging day, like with friends talking about things I can’t do, I can then escape and look forward to putting my headphones on and talk to people who enjoy the same things.”

Join the #Wish100Week community by watching streams and donating, or by registering your own livestream or gaming challenge at https://www.make-a-wish.org.uk/gamestars/

Anyone who raises more than £100 will get a campaign t-shirt and those who raise £250 through their fundraising page have the chance to be entered into a prize draw to win a PS5.