After a long illness, Alfred Gamble’s wife died "on the day Abe’s Oddysee was born", 19 September 1997. In his turmoil he contemplated suicide and even bought a gun. For some reason, in 1998 he used the last of his money to buy a PlayStation and several games, including Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, which, after playing it, inspired him to continue living. Feeling he owed his life to the game’s makers, he handwrote a six-page letter to Oddworld Inhabitants. When Sherry McKenna read the letter aloud, it resulted in many Oddworld Inhabitants "crying hysterically", and to this day the story of Alfred Gamble remains McKenna’s most memorable experience, although she prefers to let Lorne Lanning tell the story.