I have this annoying habit of taking things for granted. For instance, have you ever really thought about how wonderful bone marrow is? My hands, feet, heart, and all the other parts work just the way they should. What would WoW be like if I couldn't use both hands?

Doomsprockt of Mauradin faced just such a dilemma. He (Jaime) was in a struck by a car in an accident that left him paralyzed on the left side of hisbody. Among the challenges of recovery, Doomsprocket sought to regain access to WoW, but his first solution, a frog-pad failed to do the trick. He appealed to the Mac Technical Support forums for assistance.

The resounding response was to try the Wii-mote or a programmed foot-pedal. Tslotha of Terenas suggested using the DarwiinRemote application to interface with a Mac. A Blue post from Radoslawn suggested the Fentek Industries Foottime or No Ho Hands mouse controllers. It turns out the Wiimote was just the ticket:

This is a triumph for me, seriously... every accomplishment is awesome. when the accident happened, I was loaded onto a stretcher and sedated.. when I woke up I couldn't do anything (even talking was difficult due to an emergency tracheotomy) . While it may not be the most noble human endeavor, I love video games, I feel an attachment to Mario, Samus, Link, and my WOW toons. regaining the ability to play is great and makes the game exciting again. I'm confident that, with therapy, I'll recover the use of my left fingers and return to being a PVP-terror.

I really like Doomsprocket's attitude. Good luck, we'll see ya in the battlegrounds!

Thanks for the tip, anjldust.

Tags: accident, controller, foot-pedal, modifications, paralysis, paralyzed, technical, technical-support, wii-mote, wiimote

Filed under: How-tos, Fan stuff, Forums, Hardware, Forum Post of the Day