After popular Dota 2 commentator Jorein "Sheever" van der Heijden announced yesterday that she had breast cancer, she received an outpouring of support from the entire Dota 2 community. Not only has this news been the most popular topic on the Dota 2 subreddit, but the moderators created a special flair to show support even while you post about other topics.
"We want to give everyone a chance to show their support," Moderator VRCKid posted. "If you add “sheever” anywhere in your flair text, a faint breast cancer pink border will be applied to your normal flair image. To set a custom user flair and text, click on the "(edit)" button at the top of the sidebar."
VRCKid also set up a bot that would bypass team or organization flairs.
Sheever says she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer just over two weeks ago and will start chemotherapy on Thursday. She announced it first via her Steam (see the clip below), but Sheever also PM'd all of her subscribers to give more details.
"Hello, First of all thank you for your support." Sheever wrote in the message." I have some not so nice news that I wanted to share with you. Two and a half week ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Coming Thursday I start with chemo which will last for half a year, followed by surgery and radiotherapy. Everyone reacts differently to chemo, so I don't know yet what kind of impact it will have on me. I expect I can still stream on some days but the streams will probably be shorter than normal. On the "bright" side I should be able to stream more since I have will not go to (as many) events.
I am heading towards a rough time, but I feel very supported. I have friends, family and Owen taking care of me."
The support Sheever has received from her fans has not gone unnoticed, as Sheever took to Twitter to express her gratitude.
John "Totalbiscuit" Bain, another gaming personality who has been struggling with cancer for years and recently started another bout of chemo, reached out to Sheever via Twitter and engaged with her on her Twitch chat to offer advice and support, Tweeting "stay strong, eat well and rest. You'll be thru the treatments and back in action in no time. DOTA has no surrender button."
Sheever's commentating career started back in 2012, and she has been a mainstay at Dota 2 events ever since, appearing at almost every International and several Major tournaments, most recently as an interviewer and commentator at The Kiev Major.
[Image Source: Gaming With Sheever on Facebook]
