Gamer Dad suffers a heart attack, needs help

by Justin McElroy { Sep 14th 2007 at 12:26PM }

Many of you who have little ones running around (or the occasional visit from a niece or nephew) may be familiar with GamerDad, a site specifically aimed at approaching gaming from a parental perspective. Sadly, Gamer Dad himself Andrew Bub suffered a heart attack at the beginning of the month. He had a quadruple bypass and will soon be undergoing more surgery.

Bub's wife Linda (seen above) is currently asking for some financial help from GamerDad readers right here. If you're a fan of GamerDad or just of people who are doing good work, there are many worse ways you could spend a few bucks. From all of us at Joystiq, we wish GamerDad the best of luck and a quick recovery.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Tags: donations, gamerdad

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Vegnagun @ Sep 14th 2007 12:33PM

Gamerdad? Gamerdad!? GAAAMMEERRDAAAADDD!!!!!!

Zertoss @ Sep 14th 2007 12:35PM

Ouch, that sucks! I wish GamerDad the best. Get well soon.

Vegnagun @ Sep 14th 2007 12:38PM

as do I

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 14th 2007 12:45PM

I hope Jack Thompson can learn from GamerDad.

I whish you the best GamerDad.

Orange Soda @ Sep 14th 2007 12:46PM

I wonder if he's playing Trauma Center.

blooh @ Sep 14th 2007 12:46PM

never heard of him, but quad bypass sucks and must be pricey

phattie @ Sep 14th 2007 12:51PM

As a Canadian, the concept of paying for life sustaining/saving healthcare is completely foreign.

Shagittarius @ Sep 14th 2007 12:53PM

The concept of seeing 50% of your income go to taxes and healthcare is not though.

Andy S. @ Sep 14th 2007 1:32PM

Nor is having to wait for months or years on end before you can even see a doctor for that major surgery, sometimes so long that the individual actually dies from whatever necessitated the surgery while waiting.

Probably why I know so many Canadians who are willing to come to America and front the cash so that they can get proper medical attention.

James @ Sep 14th 2007 1:50PM

Yea, it would suck to pay for all that.

"Doctor, we found this guy half dead in the street, should we revive?"

"No insurance, let him die".

hvnlysoldr (NDF - Wind Ring) @ Sep 14th 2007 1:53PM

This isn't the places for politics. We should wish Gamer Dad well.

Vegan @ Sep 14th 2007 3:26PM

Shagittarius, you make it sound as if Canadians are all poverty-stricken. They are not. They are taken care of AND they have money.

Silent Xenocide @ Sep 14th 2007 11:57PM

Health care benefits don't cost me too much of my pay cheque. I don't understand the US health care system.

phattie @ Sep 14th 2007 12:50PM

What about sending him a WiiFit?

doomcloud @ Sep 14th 2007 2:32PM

you sir get a plus

Kye (NDF - Earth Ring) @ Sep 14th 2007 12:50PM

Is joystiq gona send him (an edited) copy of this thread?

Gamerdad we need more people like you!
On behalf of the NDF; Get well soon.

I can't wait till my boy's born in a matter of weeks.
I'm already lining up the games we'll play XD

hvnlysoldr (NDF - Wind Ring) @ Sep 14th 2007 1:52PM

Best to indoctrinate him with Mario, raise his skills with Kirby, and to increase his nerd intelligence quotient with Brain Age.

T3H WICKERMAN @ Sep 14th 2007 12:52PM

Time to prioritize and sell those games and systems! Hope the guy feels better but my health and my family come before teh games. Best wishes.

qbix @ Sep 14th 2007 12:57PM

Donation sent. Best wishes to him and his family.

Rich @ Sep 14th 2007 1:07PM

Get well soon, GD!

GaryM @ Sep 14th 2007 1:08PM

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Sean @ Sep 14th 2007 1:14PM

That's no good. I wish him nothing but the best.

Sean @ Sep 14th 2007 5:20PM

P.S. - Righteous beard, GamerDad.

Diskoboy @ Sep 14th 2007 1:17PM

Shoot - if I woke up after a heat attack to a new Brain Age edition DS, I'd be feeling moderately better already, pretty much instantly!!

Seriously though - best wishes, from a fellow gamer parent.

whymog @ Sep 14th 2007 1:19PM

GamerDad's a good guy and great voice in gaming. I hope his recovery goes well!

OnimushaSoki @ Sep 14th 2007 1:28PM

Get well soon, man! :D

Pixelantes Anonymous @ Sep 14th 2007 1:31PM

Be well GamerDad, and here's hoping for fast recovery!

I am wondering though...why isn't his health insurance covering the costs?

Jeff @ Sep 14th 2007 2:00PM

Never read the site but I chipped in a few bucks. I'd hope others would do the same for me if my insurance still screwed me over. I wish him the best.

-Jeff
http://alinktothefuture.com

Brandon @ Sep 14th 2007 2:16PM

See!! Jack Thompson was right!!!!! Video games leaded to almost dying. Who can we sue? Was it those Mario people that caused his heart attack? (on the way to donate...keep up the good work Gamerdad.)

Brandon @ Sep 14th 2007 2:18PM

AAAAAAAHHHH....why is Mario above my name...he's coming for me!!

João Gonçalves @ Sep 14th 2007 2:20PM

Best wishes for a quick and speedy recovery GamerDad!

kip @ Sep 14th 2007 3:10PM

Just curious, does anyone know how old he is?

Jeff @ Sep 14th 2007 3:18PM

"This isn't the places for politics."

If someone is publicly asking for donations to cover their medical bills, and they're also doing so through the press, then yes, I'd say politics is perfect fodder.

There are about 45 million Americans with no health insurance. Are you all going to be sending them donations when they get sick as well? Or are you going to let them go without proper care because they don't write about video games? That's a funny way of valuing human life.

It's about time we do something about this. It costs us more in the long run not to, because people without insurance don't get the preventative care that probably would have helped this guy avoid having a heart attack in the first place. Why do you think our health care costs are so ridiculously higher than the rest of the industrialized world, even though we're the one country out of that group without universal health care? One is a direct cause of the other.

hvnlysoldr (NDF - Wind Ring) @ Sep 14th 2007 3:51PM

I know the medical system isn't perfect. My mom and dad have diabetes and I'm a candidate to that as well as glaucoma. We only have MedicAid to help us so we know that a system to care for the nation's health would be ideal but it hasn't happened. Not even GamePolitics is a good place to discuss this since that aspect doesn't involve games. This post is about wishing a gamer who spreads advice to parents on gaming to do well with his surgery and recover. Don't drag politics in here.

ThornedVenom @ Sep 14th 2007 9:16PM

I've never heard of the guy, yet what he does is a great thing: informing parents about videogames.

It's due to such ignorance, or indifference, that people like Jack Thompson is on the loose.

.... you know what? Screw what I just said. We should create a new "rule" banning all references to JT to prevent him from getting anymore attention.

And I can't believe I've just dragged JT into an article about Gamer Dad. But heck, better than dragging politics?

AzaMcWazza @ Sep 15th 2007 12:05AM

Good luck to him, hope he gets better. That said, almost 90% of heart attacks are avoidable if people didn't eat dairy and meat - plain and simple and an inarguable fact. It's an almost totally avoidable problem unless you have some congenital defect or major genetic problem.