Gamers Beware…Video Game Deaths/Injuries On the Rise
Video gaming seems like a safe endeavor. You're often seated on a plush chair in the comfort of your own home.
A story going viral online caught my eye. A British soccer star named Courtney Baker-Richardson's red hot scoring streak has been ended. No, he wasn't injured on the field. He injured himself gaming at home.
The crewe boss of his team was on the "telly", as the British really call it , telling reporters, "We are hoping that it is not too serious, we will know more next week." Apparently, the soccer star was playing Xbox and dropped his leg on the sofa and injured it. There are whispers that this player's soccer days may now be limited if not downright over.
Most of us know that, sure, you could get carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive use injuries from playing video games. There are many reports of carpometacarpal joint injuries, trigger finger, tendonitis, rotator cuff tears and more, but I am surprised to learn, upon further investigation, that video game injuries are common.
Some get pretty serious.
There are even fatalities. One of the first came in April 1982. An 18-year-old man named Peter Bukowski was playing Berzerk so ardently, that he had a heart attack and died. The deputy coroner at the time, Mark Allen, admitted that stress from the game could have caused his fatal heart attack, although he did have indications of previously undiagnosed heart problems.
In 2014, Brazilian Gabriel Cavalcante Carneiro Leao was playing Ingress, a game that encouraged people to move around. Gabriel lost track of his surroundings while rushing to a portal in the game that he was hit and killed by a bus. I'm surprised that never happened to anyone playing Pokemon Go!
A couple of deaths are tied to marathon video game playing sessions. In 2015, a British boy named Rustam (last name withheld) died after playing Defense of Ancients for 22 unrelenting days.
There are also reports of Call of Duty players who took their feud off the internet and it ended in tragedy.
While many debate whether or not e-gamers are really athletes, I say they most surely are. I mean just like athletes in football, soccer, basketball and other professional sports, e-gamers get injured in their sport. Gamers need to be aware of the dangers and take precautions.
You wouldn't want your scoring streak on the field to be hijacked by a bizarre video game injury.