A Man Played Video Games for 73 Hours Straight. What Happened to His Body?

We've all spent more time in front of a screen than we should, whether working or enjoying a long gaming session. However, for some people it becomes an addiction, with very serious health risks. One of the most extreme cases was explored by Chubbyemu on his channel, and it's based on the story of a 25-year-old man who arrived dead at the hospital after having played for 73 hours without stopping. What exactly happened to him?

Think about it for a moment: What was your longest gaming marathon? Personally, I think nine or ten hours (with several breaks), and after that I was absolutely useless. Maybe the impact isn't felt so much with the adrenaline, action, and tension on screen, but once all that stimulus stops, the body becomes a symphony of complaints and pains.

The Story

Now imagine a more extreme and disproportionate situation. A 25-year-old man, healthy, with completed studies. He lost his job like many others, but he wanted to be a video game streamer. His first attempts were failures, he stopped looking for work, and his mother kicked him out of the house for that. The local internet café became his new space, where he basically lived and slept, collapsed in front of the computer. One weekend, he spent 73 straight hours playing, barely eating and drinking. He didn't even get up to go to the bathroom. When he tried to stand up, he collapsed. He spent 30 minutes on the café floor ignored, until someone called emergency services...

The Medical Cause

The resuscitation process began in the ambulance, and a rapid ultrasound at the hospital revealed that the right side of his heart was swollen, almost deformed. Doctors determined it was a massive acute pulmonary embolism, caused by a blockage in the pulmonary artery. The rest of his organs began to "shut down" from lack of oxygen. The overall picture was acute due to its defined onset, and the absence of prior medical conditions other than playing for 73 hours.

Now, extending an activity for more than 70 hours without a break is very dangerous, but staying seated for more than 70 hours is lethal. The reason is venous stasis or venostasis, a drastic reduction in the speed of blood circulation in the veins, especially in the legs. Sitting compresses the veins, and with such low circulation, the formation of a clot leads to what's called deep vein thrombosis.

The clot remained in his legs until he got up from the chair, and traveled to the pulmonary artery, where it got trapped. The increased volume and pressure in the right side of the heart affected the left, causing heart failure. Oxygen distribution in the body fell apart, and organs began to die.

Treatment and Outcome

When they found him at the café, paramedics indicated that the man was still struggling to breathe as a result of hypoxemia, a decrease in the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood. And with just a few minutes' difference, that established a possibility of bringing him back. Remote, complex, but a possibility after all. Neither surgery nor catheter intervention were valid options due to time. His only option? An immediate fibrinolytic treatment with a massive dose of antithrombotics, while resuscitation attempts continued.

The good news after a few minutes of struggle was that the young gamer had regained a pulse. The bad news was that he remained unconscious and didn't respond to external stimuli. The anoxic-ischemic brain damage was permanent. The man suffered pneumonia and sepsis during his stay in intensive care. A marked decrease in urine output and high transaminase levels indicated damage to the kidneys and liver. His autopsy revealed extensive damage to the parietal-temporal-occipital area of the cerebral cortex, lesions in the cerebellum, and losses in the thalamic nuclei. It was too late.