Teen Collapses in Gaming Marathon; 'Modern Warfare 3' for 5 Days Straight
A teen in Ohio had to be rushed to the hospital for dehydration after he collapsed at home from a five-day gaming marathon.
Tyler Rawlins, 15, had to receive medical attention after his mother claimed her son spent four to five days locked inside his bedroom playing a popular Xbox video game, according to reports from NBCi.com.
The Columbus resident's mother, Jessie Rawlins, revealed that she and her son went to visit his aunt who lived close by and once they reached her house, he started to faint.
His mother called paramedics after her son collapsed three separate times while they were visiting because she was concerned his condition would worsen. Upon their arrival, paramedics administered an IV drip before taking him to a nearby hospital.
"I was very scared," Rawlins said told local media. "I thought he was going to die."
Rawlins was playing the popular first-person shooter game Modern Warfare 3 and only left his room to use the bathroom and eat, according to reports.
Dehydration can be fatal if not corrected and Dr. Mike Patrick, an emergency physician at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, explained. He said that the teen was lucky to have family around when he fainted.
"When you're dehydrated, the amount of fluid in your entire body is decreased and that includes the fluid that's in your blood vessels," Patrick told NBCi.com.
"So you have decreased blood volume. That leads to decreased blood pressure. When your blood pressure gets to a certain point, you're unable to get enough blood up to the brain. If you're not getting enough oxygen to the brain, that can cause you to pass out and it could cause you to die," the doctor said.
It appears as if Rawlins realized the errors of his ways with the help of his mother who said that she is happy her son is alright, but that "the Xbox is gone."
