Teen dies after playing computer game for 22 days in a row

Rustan got addicted to gaming out of boredom

A 17-year-old boy known only as Rustam has died after reportedly playing an online computer game for 22 days nonstop. The teenager was said to be playing the game Defense of the Ancients almost continuously, only stopping to sleep and eat, the Mirror reports. Rustan who had broken his leg and was bored at home, saw his character die on screen before he passed away at home. Investigators stated that the addicted gamer spent more than 2,000 hours playing the game in the last year-and-a-half.
The tragic death happened in the town of Uchaly in southern Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan. His parents claim they usually heard him pounding at his keyboard but on August 30, all went quiet in his room. He was rushed to hospital but declared dead on arrival. Doctors believe he could have died from second class syndrome, thrombosis from not moving around, as on a cramped long haul flight.
Russian representative for children Pavel Astakhov said: "It is important to follow what your kids are doing. In the case of the 17-year-old, it is suspected he spent what was the equivalent of 83 whole days online out of the past year-and-a-half. A dependence on computer games is one of biggest dangers for the kids nowadays".
Medical expert Azat Hafizov explained what could have happened: "People can suffer from such problems during long flights when they are forced to sit. The boy presumably died from a thrombosis. They are appearing in 50 percent of cases when people have fractures."
Psychologist Rustam Kalimullin said: "Problems with video games become bigger if parents do not take enough care of children.
"It does not have to be that parents drink or take drugs, but simply do not pay enough attention to children. In those cases children escape from problems into virtual worlds."

Source: Mirror