Local gamer supported by award-winning rapper on competitive quest

Thirty year old Joe Mccluskey born with multiple birth defects found his passion in gaming and now he's planning to take his talents global.

An Angus, Ont. man who is an avid gamer is determined to take his talents to an international stage and live out a lifelong dream despite his rare condition.

Joe McCluskey, 30, was born with VACTERL Syndrome, and has spent his life fighting in both video games and reality.

“I’ve been playing things like Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, since I was sitting in SickKids trying not to die,” McCluskey said.

VACTERL Syndrome is characterized by a series of birth defects. The VACTERL acronym represents seven abnormalities, including vertebral, anorectal, cardiovascular, tracheal, esophageal, renal and limb.

“In order to have this condition, you have to have three out of the seven letters/conditions. And I have all seven of them,” said McCluskey.

During his recovery from more than 250 surgeries, McCluskey developed his passion for gaming.

“The nurses would allow me to use one of the TV’s with the cards on it,” he said. “Luckily I was born at a time where, instead of a VCR, they would have game consoles on them.”

McCluskey mastered his skills in the ‘Street Fighter’ series and reached a competitive level six years ago, all while adapting to conventional controllers.

His limited but quick extremities caught the eye of Infinite, a three-time Juno award winner, at a Barrie gaming event last year.

“Mr. Joe and I met at Game On! After Dark,” said the Toronto rapper. “I was just so amazed to watch how talented he was with the controller and his condition.”

Infinite is the soundtrack artist and voice of ‘Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.’ He is hoping to help send McCluskey to Las Vegas in early August to compete in EVO 2025, the world’s largest fighting game tournament.

“I want to show the world what real courage looks like,” added Infinite.

The rapper is supporting McCluskey in his quest to afford living out his dream, where he would compete on the international stage for prizes of up to $20,000 USD.

“This has been a dream ever since I really felt like I’ve reached a competitive level,” said McCluskey, while also speaking of the challenges he would have to overcome to reach that stage. “I cannot really afford to go myself because I also need to take a caregiver with me.”

A GoFundMe for Joe has been created with the goal of raising the Canadian equivalent of €4,000. His family says whatever is raised above their goal will be donated to the SickKids Foundation and BlindWarriorSven Foundation, which supports blind gamers.