ANN ARBOR, MI – J.J. Bouchard vividly recalls the week he spent at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the age of 7.
The fear and anxiety of getting poked with needles after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes were overshadowed only by the positive memories associated with his interactions with then-child activity therapist Jerry Reed.
Reed introduced Bouchard to Pitfall! for Atari 2600 — a new world filled with swinging from vines and avoiding pits filled with alligators. Bouchard’s visits to the playroom became a coping mechanism during his stay at Mott.
“I had played video games before, but that was my first real memory of playing them and having an impact on my life was at Mott,” Bouchard recalls. “I shared a room with four other kids and I was getting poked a lot and I remember being really scared and not knowing what was going to happen to me. Going from being in pain to playing games in my bed really transformed the hospital.”
Bouchard hasn’t flipped the power button off since.
Recently appointed as the patient technology coordinator at Mott Hospital, Bouchard is responsible for bringing video games and virtual reality technology into the each of the patients’ rooms.
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Source: Mlive