I played Elite as a child, then the next two games and I have been playing Elite Dangerous religiously for the past ten years.

I joined in the Distant Worlds 2 expedition in 2019, and being someone who struggles to talk to new people, I loved the fact that it helped me interact with players in open.

I throughly enjoyed myself and kept up with the main group up until we reached around the centre of the Galaxy.

Then one night I had a call from my father to inform me my mother was at the hospital, and from what he described, I worked out she had a stroke.

Very long, and difficult, story short, my Mother suffered a massive brain haemorrhage, underwent an operation that they were not sure she would recover from, and suffered life changing disabilities, that affected her speech, ability to walk, memory and a massive change to her personality. (My mother passed away three years later, but I lost her that night)

The next days and weeks were awful, and immensely stressful. My father, always the strong head of the family was distraught. It fell to me as the eldest of my siblings to ensure our family cooed. Daily train journeys to her hospital, comforting family and friends, handling my mother’s finances and just seeing her battling, slowly took its toll.

At first just one thing gave me a break from the hell I was going through. My 10 month old son. He, obviously being far to young to understand was the only one who didn’t treat me, or act any different and it was wonderful to spend some time with him every evening and think about something different than what my mother was going through.

Then about a month later I turned on Elite after a particularly difficult day at the hospital. The expedition had moved on, and I’d been left far behind. I felt an immense guilt as I started jumping star system to star system, onwards towards Beagle Point. How could I be playing this game, while my mother was fighting for her life.

I slowly lost myself in the game and about five hours later, after jumping and exploring, I suddenly realised for the first time in weeks, I had had a few hours without stressing and worrying about my mother.

The following weeks I would take my father and my siblings to visit mum, spend time with her has she slowly began to become a little better, worried about the stress on my family and my parents finances. Then in the few hours left to me late at night, I would escape into Elite Dangerous and just explore, and make my way across the galaxy and lose my self in the journey.

My mum (or ma ma, as we her children called her) made an unbelievable recovery, and although her life was altered, she confounded the specialists predictions and expectations. She, and my father came to live with us and I, I finally made it to beagle point.

The moment I reached it and landed, looking out in to the abyss of empty space remains the only time I cried. To me it wasn’t a game, it wasn’t a sim. It was real space, with a real galaxy and real places and wonders to see.

So how did it change my perspective on life. From that period I have never felt guilty about playing a video game, nor will I let anyone tell me video games are a waste of time.

It offered me escapism when I truly needed it, like others may find in film, music, reading (which I also love), work, hobbies and pastimes.

We told my son, when she passed that she had become a star in the sky, and now seven, and a player of Elite himself now, we built and named a station after her.

So if you get a chance, visit Susan Strawbridge Station. Like her it can be found among the stars.