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YouTuber and Minecraft streamer Technoblade has died after a year-long battle with cancer.

The content creator, 23, from San Francisco, who revealed his name in his final video as simply ‘Alex’ , began posting videos online playing Minecraft in 2013 and amassed over 10 million subscribers.

He was diagnosed with stage four cancer last August and had spent most of the last year away from the public eye while undergoing chemotherapy.

While it is not known what form of cancer Alex had, he went on to raise funds for sarcoma charities.  

In a video posted to his YouTube channel called ‘So long nerds’ today, his father, whose name is unknown, shared the heartbreaking news with fans. 

Calling his son ‘the most amazing kid’, he read out a goodbye  message written by Alex, who said: ‘If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again every single time as those were the happiest years of my life.’

YouTuber and Minecraft streamer Technoblade, 23, has died after a year-long battle with cancer, his family have revealed

YouTuber and Minecraft streamer Technoblade, 23, has died after a year-long battle with cancer, his family have revealed 

Technoblade mostly posted videos about sandbox game Minecraft.

He had amassed a following of millions who enjoyed his clips playing the game, although he never revealed his face or name to fans.

However in August, he shared some shocking news in a video called ‘where I’ve been’, which has since been viewed 13 million ways.

In the video, he told fans he was diagnosed with cancer after thinking he had an arm injury: ‘In the last few days of July, my right arm started to hurt quite a lot.’

The content creator, who had never revealed his face or name before his final video was posted,  was diagnosed with cancer last year

The content creator, who had never revealed his face or name before his final video was posted,  was diagnosed with cancer last year 

Thinking it was a stress injury due to his ongoing gaming, he took a few days off – before realising it wasn’t going away.   

Technoblade’s final message to fans 

‘Hello everyone, Technoblade here.

If you’re watching this, I’m dead.

‘So let’s sit down and have one final chat.

‘My real name is Alex. I had one of my siblings call me Dave one time, in a deleted video from 2016, and it was one of the most successful pranks we’ve ever done.

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‘Thousands of creepy online dudes, going “Oh hey Dave, how’s it going?”

‘Sorry for selling otu so much in the last ytear, but thanks to everyone who bought hoodies, plushies and channel memberships.

‘My siblings are going to college! Well, if they want to. I don’t want to put any dead brother peer pressure on them.

‘That’s all from me, thankyou all for supporting my content over these years.

‘If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again every single time as those were the happiest years of my life.’

‘I hope you guys enjoyed my content and I made some of you laugh and I hope you all go on to live long, prosperous and happy lives because I love you guys.

‘Technoblade out…’ 

Alex looked at himself in the mirror and saw his shoulder was swelling. On August 2 he went to the doctor to see what was wrong.

He explained: ‘They ran a couple of scans and said the reason my arm hurts is because I have cancer.

‘It really couldn’t have gone worse.’

He explained how he told doctors ‘if you want to cut off my arm, cut off my arm. I can play with my feet – do what you got to do.’

Alex said after he was diagnosed he went on to have chemotherapy, which he compared to ‘poison’.

Alex added: ‘I was a healthy 22-year-old, I rarely went to the doctor or dentist…’

While he never revealed what type of cancer he had, he began fundraising for a sarcoma charity.

He explained in a fundraising video posted in February that he had undergone chemotherapy, radiation therapy and a limb salvage operation.

But today, a video was uploaded to his channel featuring a farewell message which was written hours before his death and read aloud by his father.

It began: ‘Hello everyone, Technoblade here. If you’re watching this. I am dead.’

He went on to reveal that his real name was in fact Alex, and spoke about the time he had pranked viewers into believing his name was Dave.

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‘Thank you all for supporting my content over the years,’ he continued. ‘If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again every single time as those were the happiest years of my life.’

‘I hope you guys enjoyed my content and I made some of you laugh and I hope you all go on to live long, prosperous and happy lives because I love you guys.

‘Technoblade out…’

His father went on to speak to the camera, saying he and Alex spent several months discussing doing a ‘final video’.

Alex's father, whose name was not revealed in the clip, paid tribute to his 'amazing' son in the emotional clip

Alex’s father, whose name was not revealed in the clip, paid tribute to his ‘amazing’ son in the emotional clip 

WHAT IS SARCOMA? 

Sarcomas are uncommon types of cancer which can grow anywhere in the body – on muscle, bone, tendons, blood vessels and fatty tissue.

Bone sarcomas are rare and affect approximately 670 people per year – but there are other types of bone cancers.

There are around 100 different types of sarcomas and about 5,300 people are year are diagnosed with them in the UK.

Sarcomas can be treated well if people catch them early, but many people do not get diagnosed until their tumours are about the size of a tin of beans.

Only slightly more than half of people with sarcomas (55 per cent) survive for five years or more after their diagnosis.

Symptoms of sarcomas can include bone pain, swellings or lumps, and restricted movement if it is growing near a joint.

Treatment may involve typical cancer therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. 

Source: Sarcoma UK 

They had planned to film the video together but ‘left it too long’, so Alex ended up writing it for him to read aloud. 

His dad continued while tearing up: ‘At some point, I got down on my knee at his bedside and I said to him, ‘Alex, you don’t have to do anything else. You’ve done so much for so many people… millions of people.

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‘And if you want to now, you can rest. But if you want to write one last video and you’re waiting for things to get a little better then I would say don’t wait. 

‘I don’t think things are going to get any better any more.’

He added that he doesn’t think Alex got to say everything he wanted to say but ‘got the main points’. He said Alex had died eight hours after he wrote the statement. 

The video ended with a written statement from his family, which read: ‘We, the family of Technoblade, wanted all of you to know just how much he adored and respected his fans and colleagues.

‘From Technoblade’s earliest online days, he was always strategizing ways to delight and reward his audience – giving away online prizes, encouraging good sportsmanship, and most of all sharing his Minecraft adventures for entertainment and laughs.

‘Even after his eventual successes he somehow managed to keep his good-natured humility, competing with an endearing balance between confidence and self-deprecating wit.’

Fans and fellow gamers have since gone on to pay tribute to Technoblade on Twitter.

J Sclatt wrote: ‘I’ll never forget the day I met Technoblade. I left work early to play in a Minecraft tournament with him. I barely knew how to play… and the dude still carried us to win the entire event.

‘Rest in peace, big guy. You’ll always be a legend.’

Tommy Innit posted: ‘Technoblade is a legend. From being a massive fan, to one of his actual friends, I can’t describe how thankful I am to have been in his life. I just know he’s strategizing in heaven on how to beat God…’ 

Other gamers were quick to take to Twitter to pay tribute to the 23-year-old, whom they called 'kind' and a 'legend'

Other gamers were quick to take to Twitter to pay tribute to the 23-year-old, whom they called ‘kind’ and a ‘legend’ 

Meanwhile Captain Puffy aka Cara tweeted: ‘Rest in peace Technoblade, He always treated me with pure kindness and never excluded me from anything. He couldn’t of been a kinder person!’

She added: ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done for this community, it will never be the same without you.’

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