Technoblade, a Minecraft maestro and one of the funniest gaming commentators online, passed away in late June 2022. His father confirmed the gamer’s death via a YouTube video aptly titled so long nerds. Technoblade’s dad read the following message written by the gamer:
“Hello everyone, Technoblade here. If you’re watching this, I am dead. Thank you all for supporting my content over the years. If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again every single time as those were the happiest years of my life.”
Technoblade died due to sarcoma, a cancer form that continues to baffle scientists
In August 2021, Technoblade informed the world that doctors had diagnosed him with cancer. The gamer, who in his farewell video revealed his real name was Alex, said he felt pain in his right arm, which he dismissed as a gaming injury.
However, after noticing swelling on his right shoulder, he consulted doctors. The doctors sent him to an institution with an oncology department, where cancer specialists spent a couple of days performing tests. Technoblade said he couldn’t understand why doctors had no sense of urgency when attending to him:
“I want to see people sprinting, you know, I feel like I want to see some urgency, you know… There’s like a tumor on my arm… If you guys could just get rid of it. Just get rid of it right now!”
The tests revealed that Technoblade had advanced sarcoma, a cancer form that grows in the body’s connective tissues.
According to the American Cancer Society, ‘scientists don’t know exactly what causes most soft tissue sarcomas.’ The society states that mutations in genes causing sarcoma often happen during life. Therefore, it’s improbable that Technoblade inherited cancer from his parents.
Cancer Research UK lists sarcoma risk factors such as exposure to radiation, advanced age, exposure to chemicals, and family history. However, sarcoma baffles scientists as it sometimes appears in healthy people with no risk factors. The American Cancer Society web page reads:
“Acquired mutations may result from exposure to radiation or cancer-causing chemicals. In most sarcomas, they occur for no apparent reason. Researchers still don’t know why most soft tissue sarcomas develop in people who have no apparent risk factors.”
Technoblade led a secretive life, so we don’t know whether he was exposed to the risk factors. He likely developed sarcoma without any risk factors.
Technoblade wrote his farewell message eight hours before his passing
Technoblade started his farewell message by explaining how the fake name Dave came along and how it led to many unwanted interactions. Alex wrote:
“My real name is Alex. I had one of my siblings call me Dave one time in a deleted video from 2016 and it was one of the most successful pranks we’ve ever done. Thousands of creepy online dudes trying to get overly personal going, ‘Oh hey, Dave, how’s it going?’”
Technoblade apologized for ‘selling out’ by offering merchandise but added that the sales would fund his siblings’ college education. “Well if they want to,” Technoblade added. “I don’t want to put any dead brother peer pressure on them.”
Alex’s dad said the pair discussed making a farewell video. Technoblade struggled to write the message due to his illness, but his dad opined Alex got all the main points. He said:
“I don’t think he said everything he wanted to say, but I think he got the main points. He finished that up and he was done. He lived about another eight hours after that.”
Technoblade’s family then posted a message by his mother stating the gamer adored and respected his friends and family deeply. The statement praised Alex for ‘strategizing ways to delight and reward his audience.’ It continued:
“Even after his eventual successes, he somehow managed to keep his good-natured humility, competing with an endearing balance between confidence and self-deprecating wit. We ask you to honor his wishes to protect his privacy and the privacy of his family.”
Alex’s mom lauded him for failing to complain in the face of impossible odds. “My son’s bravery on this path was a shining lesson to all of us who were privileged to walk it with him,” she concluded.