I did a story and posted on this blog in April about Kevin Nguyen, 17, who is suffering from a rare genetic disease that claimed the lives of his two brothers.

Because of his illness, Kevin can’t live the life of a normal 17-year-old, and spends much of his time playing video games in his Kalihi home and dreaming about becoming a video game designer.

After the story ran, Aloha Island, a local video game developer, got in touch with Kevin’s family and arranged for him to visit their small studio on University Avenue, which he did last week.

(Above: Kevin poses with a character from a game, “Aloha Island,” that is still being developed.)

“He seemed equally interested in everything, and not just art or programming,” Aloha Island producer Ty Robinson, who took the photos, said in an email. “Usually kids gravitate quickly to something, but it seemed he had a very broad view of all the elements that go in a game, which I thought for his age was pretty amazing.”

Robinson also showed Kevin a tool he could use to make his own games, called “Scratch,” and how 3D characters are created in movies and games with a software package called MAYA.

“Although I just met him, I could tell right away he is a fighter, and really knows his stuff about games,” Robinson said. “He made a big impression on all of us, and we are truly grateful for the opportunity.”

(Above: Kevin with lead artist Jason Nobriga, who presented Kevin with an autographed concept sketch.)

Kevin graduated in a special ceremony from McKinley High School in April. The principal of McKinley, as well as Kevin’s elementary and middle school teachers, his family and many friends, attended.

————————————

Read about the difficulties of finding a bone marrow match for Vietnamese patients in this story about the Nguyen family in NHA Magazine from 2007.

For more information about bone marrow donation and the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, visit their website.