VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Gamers of all ages answered the call Saturday during a "Call of Duty" video game tournament in remembrance of Adrian Rodriguez.
Adrian’s mom says he was playing video games before he could walk.
“From the time he was crawling he had at first a wee controller, then an Xbox One controller, the Xbox 360,” said mother Koko Rodriguez.
Adrian died last year after a long bout with cancer. He was only nine years old. His family says "Call of Duty" allowed him to be a normal kid, even while he was bed ridden in the hospital.
“He didn’t want his friends to come to the hospital to see him, so his friends were the online gaming community. They couldn’t see him, or judge him, or feel sorry for him because he didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him,” said Koko.
Adrian’s older brother Alex says the last time he played this game he was sitting next to his baby bro. It still makes him smile.
“He was better than me even, though I’m the oldest. He was better than me at everything,” said Alex.
The Rodriguez family says they know Adrian is looking down on them with pride, that this many people came together in his name to play his favorite game.
“Adrian was fun, every day was fun with him, even when he was sick he made the most of everyday. We didn’t have sad days,” said Koko.
However, the family also says the tournament is more than just remembering Adrain, it’s about raising money and awareness for children with cancer. One-hundred percent of all tournament entry fees go to CHKD.
“Research is where the cures come from so if we could just help one family find the cure for the type of cancer that they have even though Adrian couldn’t,” said Koko.