Giving What She Needed: MirrorMaskArts’ Story
Echoes of the Hospital Room
Twitch Affiliate and Starlight charity streamer MirrorMaskArts, or Mirror, has a vivid memory. When she remembers something, all the images and emotions rush back, as if it had just happened.
So, anytime Mirror has health struggles, she’s brought back to her time at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She lives with chronic illness, specifically fibromyalgia and chronic migraines, but as a child, these diagnoses were not yet clear to the doctors. She was left without answers while struggling with loneliness and fear.
“My parents were limited in the time they could spend with me. I was completely isolated from my friends for two weeks,” Mirror recalls. “And we didn’t have answers. We didn’t know what was wrong. We didn’t know what they could do for me. It was one of the most terrifying, isolating experiences I’ve ever had.”
Still, the kindness of a nurse and an unexpected source of happiness — a tiny bin of assorted beads and string — helped Mirror endure throughout her hospital stay.
“She gave me a bunch of random beads that I could use to make bracelets and keep myself occupied. It made a huge difference for me in my experience being there,” reflected Mirror.
A Beacon for Impact
Now as an adult, Mirror still visits the hospital regularly, but she’s found ways to care for her mental health through the art community on Twitch, where she streams everything from watercolor painting to playing the harp.
It was through the art community that Mirror connected with fellow streamers and former Stream For Starlight (S4S) Ambassador NinePointFive, who inspired her to give fundraising for Starlight a try. Mirror reminisces:
“Nine told me, ‘You are a beacon. You are creating an opportunity that did not exist before, and that allows for things to happen for the organization that may not have happened without you.’ And that’s all I needed to hear.”
Streaming for Starlight became deeply personal to Mirror. As she learned more about Starlight’s mission to deliver happiness to hospitalized kids, Mirror realized — that’s exactly what she experienced as a child. “The programs that Starlight provides really takes a lot of that fear away. It makes staying at the hospital less isolating and scary,” shares Mirror.
Since fundraising for Starlight since 2023, Mirror has helped deliver Starlight Toy Deliveries, Hospital Gowns and Gaming to kids in her local community as well as across the nation.
Seeing Starlight's Impact Up-Close
Mirror recently saw a community member post online about their child using one of the Starlight Gaming Stations, like the ones she has fundraised for, and said, “The impact of Starlight’s mission is so close, I can really feel that it reaches people and that it makes a difference."
As a gamer, Mirror understands the impact gaming can make for hospitalized kids. She explains:
“When you’re isolated, gaming is a very powerful tool to use to not feel trapped. When you enter a game it is part escapism, so it relieves pain not to think or focus on the pain you’re experiencing.”
Mirror feels that gaming would have changed her experience in the hospital too. She shares:
“If I had gaming consoles back then it would have provided an easier route of escape. I would have felt like I was experiencing something other than feeling in limbo, waiting, floating and not doing much other than thinking about what was happening.”
Mirror’s favorite Starlight program, though, is the Starlight Hospital Gowns. “Throughout my adult life, I’ve still dealt with being in a hospital gown. It sticks with you,” she shared. “When you’re in a standard hospital gown, in and out, in and out, in and out, you just feel like you’re back in it.”
Unlike standard gowns, Starlight Gowns, in their colorful patterns with familiar characters, remind kids that they are first and foremost kids. “Rather than being in a generic patient gown, the Starlight gowns help give their identity of being a kid back to them,” Mirror says.
Providing Comfort and Happiness
Through Starlight, Mirror provides the comfort she wishes she had as a child in the hospital.
“I know personally what relief I would have felt in that place with these programs, and I want them to feel that relief. I know the little bit of joy that I got from what was provided to me, so I can just imagine what a kid must experience when they see the Starlight Gaming Station enter the room while wearing those Starlight Gowns.”
Mirror, now an S4S Ambassador, knows how crucial it is to make hospitals easier places for kids to be.
“There’s nothing I can do about having to be in the hospital. Sometimes it just happens with everything that I have going on. But the way that I experience the hospitals can be different so it’s not this big, terrifying thing.”
Kids living with chronic illnesses can’t change the reality of going to the hospital. Still, with your help, it doesn’t have to be so scary.
You can change the way kids experience the hospital. Stream for Starlight alongside MirrorMaskArts to bring comfort and relief to kids when they need it most.
