A Heartwarming Tale of Tech Support

Peter Byrne is a 21-year-old with cerebral palsy and a passion for video games. Cerebral palsy is caused by an insult an immature, developing brain, often before or during birth. As such, Byrne has lived with his disability all his life. Unfortunately, the disorder affects his muscle tone and movement in a way that interferes with his ability to play his Playstation 4.

Specifically, Byrne’s left hand continuously hits a touchpad integrated into a new controller design. The touchpad contact pauses gameplay, which creates frustrating and frequent interruptions for Byrne. He reached out to customer support, and received a standard response that asked him to detail his issue in an email to a specific address.

Things get personal

Instead of receiving a standard response to that email, an employee named Alex Nawabi contacted Byrne and said he would handle the matter personally and not on behalf of Playstation. Through a series of correspondence, the pair determined exactly how the controller was affected by Byrne’s condition. Nawabi ultimately told Byrne that he’d attempted a solution, but the modification didn’t work; nevertheless, he would send along a goodie bag.

Byrne was stunned when the package arrived. Nawabi had “lied” to him, but in the best way possible. In a Facebook post, Byrne wrote, “I received that box today and inside was the modified controller especially made for me … Mr. Nawabi really cared about my situation and did this on his own time to make my experience better. I honestly can’t thank him enough for everything he did for me. Thank you Mr. Nawabi it really means a lot to me!”

Raising awareness helps everyone

The Huffington Post reported, “Byrne hopes his experience will encourage gaming companies to think more about gamers with disabilities. ‘Someone listened, and cared enough to take my matter personally,’ he told BuzzFeed News. ‘I hope that other companies look at their fan base and realize that disabled people are gamers, too, and that we need to be accommodated.’

We’re always glad to share good news. Unfortunately, cerebral palsy sufferers aren’t always so easily accommodated. The condition lasts a lifetime, and victims and their families face serious challenges. If your child was the victim of a birth injury like cerebral palsy, you may be entitled to compensation for continuing medical care and pain and suffering. The experienced South Carolina birth injury attorneys at McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC, can evaluate your case and help get you the compensation you deserve. Call us at 803-327-7800 or contact us today for a free consultation.