Boy dies after 12 hour gaming session
by Steve Parsons 
{ Jun 23rd 2005 at 10:15AM }
Wow, aren't we just a little ray of sunshine. The other day it was the idiots in South Korea
leaving
their four month old daughter to die while
they played WOW. Then earlier today, the boy who killed his parents. Now it's a 12 year old who died after 12 hours of
gaming! Perhaps we should be carrying a "May Cause Depression" warning.
The boy, referred to as Sergei, collapsed after playing for 12 hours straight. He was rushed to hospital, and died a
week later. Cause of death was a stroke. Apparently the prolonged emotional stimulation of the brain led to a
haemorrhage. At least that's the professional verdict, which sounds a little Doctor Nick to me.
Having played for 12 hours, most likely sitting the entire time, I would have guessed at deep vein thrombosis, where a
clot forms in the leg, then when you stand up, dislodges and moves around your body until it finds somewhere cozy to
settle and kill you, but then I'm not a doctor. I only play one at parties.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Knight37 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Why does the gaming press latch onto anything remotely related to gaming where someone dies as if it's somehow relevant? I mean, every year a lot of people die while taking a crap, but you don't see people writing articles about how toilets are bad for you. How many people die every minute in a car crash? You don't see people writing articles linking cars with death. It's morbid and quite frankly, NOT newsworthy.
Chris K @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
This kid must have been pretty darn sick already. I have sat in a chair playing video games for MORE than 12 hours with no problems. I watched all three LOTR movies back to back (14 hours). I have driven my car for more than 16 hours straight with no problems. And I sit in my desk at work for 8 hours a day every day with no problems.
And "prolonged emotional stimulation" is just doctor-speak for "we don't know WHAT the hell happened." Our minds get emotional stimulation 24/7. Emotions don't kill. That siezure killed him, and it could have just as easily killed him after an hour of playing games, or merely watching TV.
Captain Skull @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
"prolonged emotional stimulation" is as fake-ass a medical condition as panic attacks.
now all the hip people who have 'panic attacks' will be having prolonged emotional stimulation attacks
elliothtz @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
"I would have guessed at deep vein thrombosis, where a clot forms in the leg, then when you stand up, dislodges and moves around your body until it finds somewhere cozy to settle and kill you, but then I’m not a doctor. I only play one at parties."
Someone has been watching too much House.
chill @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Light bulb just went off in some scum bag lawyers head......
pspimp @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Why would a story like this leave out the game he was playing?
Inquiring minds want to know, I can't remember the last time I played a game
for more than an hour or so.
Rocket Punch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
LMAO, bascially the kid died for doing an activity for 12+ hours. It just happens that, in this case, the activity is video games.
I mean if you drink milk non stop, you will probably be dead in less than 6 hours.
You see, MILK KILLS BABIES!!!!! AND IT SHOULD BE BANNED!!!!!!!
scott @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
The kid was seizure-prone evidently and had a seizure. Sad, but that's that. Stress can cause it, but stress is not restricted to video games - if anything, we play games to relieve stress. It could have been induced by relative hypoglycemia (if he wasn't eating for 12 hours) or sleep deprivation (probably from playing the game late into the wee hours for a while). If he was downing caffeinated drinks for much of that time, it would exacerbate both conditions.
DVT wouldn't be likely at all unless he had a pre-existing condition, like recent trauma, surgery, or had hypercoagulable state. You just don't see "blood clots" like that in 12-year olds without something else going on. Plus, most of his have more leg room than in your typical 12-hour airplane or car trip, so it's a different story.
From a doctor who doesn't watch "doctor" shows on TV.
scott @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Another thing that is not clear in the article is when the brain hemorrhage occurred. It could have caused the seizure by pure mass effect. Or a seizure that couldn't be stopped could have led to a hypertensive crisis that could have caused the bleed. If the bleed occurred first, then there really is no link to video gaming. It would have been due to a brain aneurysm (genetics) or some extremely hypertensive chronic condition (very rare, but possible via some undiagnosed endocrine diseases).
Bogsnogger @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Rubbish rubbish rubbish. This is obviously a cover up, or an attempt at a rational explination. Cases like these are not as rare as you might think - this one however was identified as a death, while the others as missing persons. You see, there are rare instances where a person will be sitting happily playing their video game and then suddenly get sucked into the machine. It's quite sad but unfortunately true, and is actually where many unlockable characters in games come from. Sure, developers may suspect something when a character suddenly appears in their game that they didn't design, but if it sells, who cares where it comes from?
The sad fact is many people will be mourning the dissaperence of their fellow videogamer, and then take control of them right on the screen. Quite terrible indeed. I don't know if you'd ever thought of it before, but video game heros have to put up with terribe amounts of agonising pain. They often die horribly gruesome deaths, and then suddenly come back to be put through it again. Bullets, laser beams, monster and boobie-traps are all extremely painful, and the average videogame hero has to endure all of the above many times over.
So next time you boot up your favorite game, think twice about loading that new character you've just unlocked. It may just be a poor soul, much like yourself, who has been sucked out of the dimension of relaity to play your sickeningly gruesome, horrible games.