Posted on 07/30/2011 9:56:29 AM PDT by SanFranDan
A mourning father has sent out a plea to other parents to protect their children from the dangers of playing computer games.
Blood clot victim, Chris Staniforth, 20, died after spending up to 12 hours at a time playing on his Xbox.
The gaming enthusiast suffered a blockage to his lungs when he developed deep vein thrombosis – commonly associated with passengers on long haul flights where they are relatively immobile for hours on end.
Chris’ heartbroken father, David told The Sun, ‘As a parent you think playing computer games can’t do them any harm because you know what they are doing.
‘Kids all over the country are playing these games for long periods - they don’t realise it could kill them.’
Chris, an avid player of popular games such as Halo collapsed after an interview at a JobCentre while telling a friend he’d been experiencing peculiar pains in his chest.
He explained how he was woken in the night by a ‘strange feeling’ in his chest and that his heart rate was incredibly low, although this returned to normal and he fell back to sleep.
During the conversation outside the JobCentre David explained the moment Chris started to suffer:
Before he collapsed outside a JobCentre, Chris was offered a place to study Game Design at Leicester University
‘He dropped a packet of chewing gum and as he picked it up, he jolted back and began to spasm.’
Chris’ friend frantically called an ambulance but paramedics arriving on the scene failed to save him.
Yesterday, a coroner confirmed DVT as the cause of death despite the 20-year-old having no history of ill health or underlying medical conditions
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
That’s a shame. Did he win anything?
Maybe he should have drank more beer while playing. Keeps the blood thinner.
He probably qualifies for a Darwin Award.
Yippee!
I think he had the high score for Donkey Kong.
I have to think there’s some other health issue at work here. We want kids to remain immobilized to a great degree during the school day. My kids play COD on xbox live for long periods during the day, but they’re not immobile during the entire time.
At any rate, a tragic loss for his family.
A 20-year old with twelve hours of nothing?
Looks like he was a bit overweight...maybe a factor?
Wow - I wonder how often this actually happens?
From personal experience, when I was a teenager practically every saturday and sunday myself and 41 other people played a game together, where some events took 8-12 hours to complete, and we would all be on for the entire time. Mind you, every hour or so we would take 10-15 minute breaks, but still, looking at this and looking back that makes it seem a little scary.
Looking back it was also a complete waste of time, to think, I could’ve been outside!
Glenlivet and Left 4 Dead.
A night well spent.
Pretty sad that a father thinks of his 20-year-old adult son as somebody he needs to monitor and that spending entire days at home playing at children's games is apparently acceptable to him.
I think it’s safe to say that he died a virgin.
“That’s a shame. Did he win anything?”
Dammit, that’s all I want to know. My oldest kid is looking to move up the rankings, and if this guy is out of the way, then junior is that much closer to saving the world from aliens...and junior plays 14 hours a day, HA!!!. (just kidding - typical middle-class parent today)
I’m just saying.
I also do yard work once in awhile and try not eat well at least 4 times a week. This modern lifestyle though, can be a killer. At 20 I'd think he was just predisposed to die early, sadly.
Try TO eat well lol..
“Looks like he was a bit overweight...maybe a factor?”
That no doubt went along with sitting still for 80% of the day, as well.
Increase your Bacon intake.
;)
“As a parent you think playing computer games can’t do them any harm because you know what they are doing.”
Huh? This was an adult, not a ten year old. My parents didn’t know what I was doing all day when I was 20. No one should!
I wonder if getting up from the computer every 20 minutes and running down a flight of stairs to grab another diet pop then back up again is what kept me alive all those teen years? And I had to do it fast, or I’d get in trouble with the leadership for being away from the computer. Exercise!
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