A medical student from Vancouver is supporting sick children via an online game she made with her partner which explores the idea of time-travel as a means to prevent the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Vancouver native Casey Goldstein met her partner, Dr. Corey Bacher, in Toronto, Ontario. Together they have come up with a way to support sick children through a virtual escape room. The virtual room is called Through the Wormhole and it is designed to raise charitable funds and to help people stay connected.
Through the Wormhole isn’t the first game the pair have created though. Their previous game, Escape From Quarantine, had participants find clues to eventually rescue a kidnapped scientist who had been working on a vaccine for COVID-19. The game was launched as a fundraiser for Food Banks Canada COVID-19 Response Fund and it raised over $43,000.
Through the Wormhole’s storyline follows a similar theme but this time using time and space travel to distribute a vaccine before the pandemic even hits. The fundraiser launched in November last year and has raised over $56,000 in less than two months. This time, those donations are going to foundations for BC Children’s Hospital, SickKids, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Canada’s Children’s Hospital.
“Our goal was to support children’s healthcare while creating a fun, safe, and innovative way to connect people around the globe through these difficult times,” said Bacher. “The success of this fundraiser and the charitable spirit of people around the globe has been greater than we ever expected.”
Both Bacher and Goldstein said they were overwhelmed at the opportunity to support the foundations through their game.
“Children’s health care is especially important to us and the chance to assist the CHEO Foundation and CCHF was an opportunity we were thrilled to have,” Goldstein said. “It’s like a dream come true to provide much-needed funds to these exceptional causes.”
To play Through the Wormhole, players must donate through the Escape From Quarantine website. Players will then receive an access code to begin the game. In true escape room fashion, teams will need to work together to solve puzzles and decipher clues to complete the mission.
When Bacher and Goldstein aren’t busy creating virtual escape rooms they’re hard at work in their fields. Goldstein is currently in her third year as a medical student at the University of Limerick School of Medicine, in Ireland. Bacher is presently working at multiple hospital sites across Toronto, including as a clinical fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children.
