Bungie gifts brain surgery patient a one-of-a-kind rifle

Bungie has gifted a one-of-a-kind rifle in Destiny to a brain surgery patient after his neurologist recommended the popular shooter for his therapy.

It all began when the patient's wife, Reddit user Bkbunny87, wrote about her husband Eric's condition and how Destiny was helping his recovery.

Eric underwent seven brain surgeries in the last seven months and they'd removed "quite a lot" of his grey matter, resulting in severe memory loss. "For a while he didn't know me, and he only sometimes knew who he was," she wrote in a Reddit post.

One thing he did remember was his excitement for Bungie's shooter Destiny, which he told his neurologist about. Amazingly, the good doctor found this a potential source of healing.

"To my extreme surprise, his neurologist told us that video games have been showing tremendous use as a PT [physical therapy] tool for brain and memory damage," Bkbunny87 wrote. "He even brought Destiny up on his computer and after some speed reading he was all but jumping at the opportunity the game could pose for someone in my husbands position."

His neurologist wasn't wrong, and indeed Destiny has aided in his recovery a good deal.

"I have been shocked how well he has taken to it," Bkbunny87 wrote. "Once an avid cook, he was no longer able to navigate our kitchen - but with Destiny, it was like a duck to water. He has always been exceptionally good at games, and it seems like that hasn't changed a bit."

"It's been a little over a week, and the game's effect on him has been so strong," she added. "Weak for months, he is flourishing in more than just the game world. He has been going out more, doing chores, making jokes. The effect of playing the game on his mood has been almost staggering."

Bungie caught wind of this heartwarming tale and decided to do reward this stalwart player by sending him a one-of-a-kind scout rifle.

"Deej [community manager David Dague] and the crew at Bungie just sent my husband the exotic Fate Of All Fools, a solar primary scout rifle," she beamed in an update. "He is ecstatic!"

Apparently it was his favourite sort of weapon to boot. "Vision of Confluence had been my husband's dream weapon, as scout is his favourite and he wanted that solar damage. A more perfect weapon could not have been chosen," she exclaimed in a follow-up post. "I'm so jealous, but mostly so damn happy for him."

The Fate of All Fools scout rifle appears on the Destiny database, so Bkbunny87 suspects it will be released as future DLC, but that's only speculation on her part. We've requested comment from Bungie on whether the rest of the world will get this or if it will forever remain an exclusive to this brave soul. But does it really matter? The important thing is that Eric has a super rad scout rifle. More importantly, it sounds like he's got an even radder partner. Good on ya, Bkbunny87!