TWO men have revealed how gaming helped them overcome the trauma and grief of cancer and are campaigning for more support for cancer patients and their family members who are part of the LBGTQ+ community.

Steven Bracewell, of Cleckheaton, and Ben Nicholls, of Hebden Bridge, have different experiences of the terrible disease, but both were able to use video games as their "saving grace".

Mr Bracewell said his life was "changed forever" in March 2019, when he was diagnosed with a very rare form of leukaemia called Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML).

He added: "It has been discovered that I have a rare genetic form.

"In the space of two years I have battled this disease twice and I'm now awaiting a bone marrow transplant."

Much of Mr Bracewell's battle against the disease was spent in isolation and he described it as a "lonely" ordeal.

But gaming provided him with he opportunity to stay connected with his online friends, while he was receiving treatment in hospital.

Mr Bracewell said: "Video games helped me feel as normal as I could in-spite of my situation and kept me distracted from my harsh reality that I was facing.

"Beating AML for the first time was one of the hardest boss battles I have ever fought in my life, with slim chance of respawn, then it came back and I faced another secret boss.

"This has been the toughest RPG I have played in my life and there are still more to levels to come."

In 2019, Mr Bracewell founded Gamers Beat Cancer (GBC) CIC - a support group for people to share their experiences of cancer, games and tech.

Mr Nicholls has been involved with the project for more than six months and became a director just before Christmas.

He had his world "turned upside down" and "flipped inside out" more than three years ago when his 33-year-old husband died after battling cancer for five months.

His death tragically came less than four weeks after the couple got married and Mr Nicholls admitted he felt lost.

Gaming was his "saving grace" and helped Mr Nicholls escape the real world.

He purchased a Nintendo Switch with Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as well as filling his time with building a gaming PC.

Mr Nicholls said: "I lost myself in world’s where cancer didn’t exist and death was only a temporary status - saves could be reloaded and difficulty chosen to get help you get through those challenges.

"These were my Fortress of Solitude.

"They helped me when I knew support for someone like me, a young gay man in his early 30s, was not available."

Mr Nicholls explained that when he joined GBC, he wanted to support the cause, but also raise awareness about the inequality of services and lack of safe spaces for LGBTQ+ cancer patients and their families and friends.

He said: "Throughout my grieving process I came to understand that I had to cope by myself, relying on my friends and family, who, as much as I loved them, had no idea what I was going through; they couldn’t comprehend what I was feeling.

"I looked for support groups for LBGTQ+ people who knew the pain I was going through, but there were none who catered for my specific circumstances: a gay man.

"All the other groups were open to all, but I didn’t feel comfortable going to one where the majority of attendees would be cis hetero.

"I couldn’t handle my husband passing and being the only gay man at the age of 32 in a room of perceived bigotry.

"Several years ago, MacMillan and the De Montfort University released a document advising healthcare professionals how to act with members of the LGBTQ+ community who have cancer.

"It further goes on to state that the psychosocial effects of cancer are different between heterosexual individuals and those that are LGBTQ+, yet no changes have been made.

"NHS England have even stated in 2019 that nearly one in five LGB women had never been for a screening (this doesn’t even take into account the many people who do not identify as woman who still have a cervix); this is one of the many examples where lack of equality of services needs addressing."

The duo have set-up the first ever "Dragbox" event to raise funds to allow GBC to continue with its support work and also to raise awareness of inequality of services received by LGBTQ+ people diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers.

Drag Queens will compete against each other in a series of Jackbox Games live on the GBC Twitch channel this evening, from 7pm.

Jackbox Games is a platform offering a variety of party games that can be played between friends and users online.