Bungie surprises brain surgery patient with an unreleased Destiny weapon

A Destiny player received an exotic, yet-to-be-released weapon from Bungie after the developer learned of his recent hospital visits for multiple brain surgeries, a publisher representative confirmed to Polygon.

On Nov. 5, Brittany Levasseur posted in Reddit's Destiny forums about her husband, Eric, who plays as a hunter under the name Trifecta01. Levasseur and her husband were high school sweethearts, she told Polygon, and met in a gaming LAN center. The two played Halo together and "fell madly in love." Eric eventually went to college for video game programming but began having problems.

"Unfortunately his medical issues began in earnest while at school, and he was left unable to work," she told Polygon. "Over the course of the following years, these issues would go on to prevent him from doing just about anything. He lost the ability to drive, and became completely home bound. In an effort to heal him, he has undergone seven neurological surgeries in the last 11 months. Two of these surgeries involved removing large sections of his brain. This left him struggling with impaired speech and memory, and the surgeries themselves have been fraught with side effects and complications."

When Destiny was released, Eric was eager to play. Although most everyday activities were exhausting for him, Levasseur said, doctors suggested the game could be used as a form of physical therapy for brain and memory damage. According to his wife, Eric began to show improvements after playing in his speech and would talk about his in-game strategies.

Shortly after writing the post about her husband on Reddit, Levasseur said that she was contacted by Bungie's community manager David Dague, also known as DeeJ. Dague sent the couple a care package and a message reading, "Please make sure he checks in with Tess or the Post Master." The in-game gift was the solar primary scout rifle known as Fate of All Fools, which Levasseur posted pictures of on Reddit.

Fate of All Fools has yet to be released in Destiny and is expected in future updates.

"Vision of Confluence had been my husbands dream weapon, as scout is his favorite and he wanted that solar damage," Levasseur wrote in a followup post. "A more perfect weapon could not have been chosen."