Gamer Ends up Comatose After Drinking 4-Liters of Energy Drink

[BishopofAges]

The article aside, I think its more than caffeine that messed him up in a small area of time. Depending on the drinks he consumed, there are numerous nutritional supplements attached to certain drinks (b-6 and b-12 for example) that in great doses can cause system-wide damage (like those seen above).

Its the same kind of scenario as when you have a once daily vitamin with iron in it and someone ends up taking a lot of them at once (for sake of argument) and succumbs to iron poisoning. A great deal of things in this world are good for us in small doses, but no one needs 4 liters of energy drink, especially kids/teens. In my experience the only way I would drink near as much of that (probably a single liter) is if it was the only thing in the house to drink and all the corner stores were closed.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I would expect this from an American, not a Norwegian. I am ashamed now.

Overdosing on energy drinks leading to kidney failure. Who'd have thought?

 

[UniversalRonin]

All I could think was "Good."

What a fucking idiot.

They're designed for a single boost of energy - and even then some fresh fruit or perhaps a granola bar would be better. They're not a supplement for your dietary needs.

I just hope this serves as an example as to how stupid this kind of product is.

I hate to agree, but I agree. What a moron.
Guy I know has heart problems and used to drink two of these a day. He wondered why his resting heartrate was 120...

Sorry to be callous, but I also agree.

If he had died, he would've been up for a Darwin Award.

going to join that train.

he is an idiot.

but he is also 14, and kids tend to be quite inexperienced and therefore dumb.

wonder what the parents said..

I'm going to join in on this too. As an IT professional, a nice Rockstar helps me wake up /get started in the morning. But then do I touch coffee/ lucozade/ energy drinks for the rest of the day? Nope, a nice cuppa, maybe a pepsi, some juice. But 4L. Even as a teenager I was smart enough to know when something was a dumb idea, and then to not do it.

EDIT:

Even before IT, when I was a shift worker at a dock yard, a nice energy drink helped me out. probably how I got started with them. I had to wake up at 04:00 to get to work most days (granted I had a 3 day weekend, and finished work by 16:00- just in time for a glorious afternoon most days.)

 

[Ephidel]

If he had died, he would've been up for a Darwin Award.

Nope, sorry [http://www.darwinawards.com/rules/]

One of the rules of the Darwin Awards is "Maturity", i.e., generally only Adults who are (on the very rare occasion) mentally capable of sound judgement are eligible to win them.

Any kid who does this is clearly disqualified from such a category.

Perhaps they could set up a Minors category?

Posthumous dumbass awards should definitely have a teen variant, if only to en(dis)courage more from exemplifying the traits of stupidity, ignorance and awareness.

 

[Doom972]

8 cans in 16 hours isn't much, so the must have already been something pretty badly wrong with him.

Don't those 1/2 liter cans have warning labels stating 'do not consume more than one can a day'?

It seems you and I are among the few who actually read it. Some people actually think that these drinks are as safe to drink as any other soda. I'm surprised that it can be sold to minors in most countries (including my own).

 

[Random Argument Man]

If he had died, he would've been up for a Darwin Award.

Nope, sorry [http://www.darwinawards.com/rules/]

One of the rules of the Darwin Awards is "Maturity", i.e., generally only Adults who are (on the very rare occasion) mentally capable of sound judgement are eligible to win them.

Any kid who does this is clearly disqualified from such a category.

Perhaps they could set up a Minors category?

Posthumous dumbass awards should definitely have a teen variant, if only to en(dis)courage more from exemplifying the traits of stupidity, ignorance and awareness.

They would certainly never have a lack of nominations if that happens. Think of all the YOLOers on that list.

OT: Gosh, that's just ridiculous. I have trouble handling the caffeine in a small cup of coffee and this kid took it to a new whole level.

 

[Lil_Rimmy]

Are you serious? He chugged that many for a SIXTEEN HOUR GAMING SESSION?

...

Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking he's such a lightweight. Hasn't this kid ever seen Mr Neal Erickson pull off a 90 hour livestream?

Pfft. Casual. Real gamers play Dark Souls 2 20 times within a 3 day session. Scrub. Bet you don't even have poison darts shot into your face every time you touch the analogue stick.

Scrub. Casual. Nub. Unranked. Primordial Ooze.

 

[Britishfan]

When I was teenager and a university student, I used to pull stupid stunts similar to this all the time. Never managed to shut down any of my organs though.

In fact I was older than that kid when I was doing this. At least he has the excuse of being 14, an age when people kinda expect you to make stupid decision as you push the limits of the increasing levels of freedom you are starting to gain at this point in your life, and still discovering the responsibilities that come with it.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

16 hours? That's like a normal offday gaming session for me, why on earth would you need energy drinks ? (I'm 26 by the way).

I have been marathoning leveling my WoW character every time an expansion has come out in the past 5 years and I played for 3 days straight without sleep with only 2 cappucino's and 1 Red Bull. That is how much it usually takes me to level cap myself.

These kids these days...feel sorry for him, but he's an idiot for drinking so much.

 

[Kinitawowi]

Are you serious? He chugged that many for a SIXTEEN HOUR GAMING SESSION?

...

Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking he's such a lightweight. Hasn't this kid ever seen Mr Neal Erickson pull off a 90 hour livestream?

Pfft. Casual. Real gamers play Dark Souls 2 20 times within a 3 day session. Scrub. Bet you don't even have poison darts shot into your face every time you touch the analogue stick.

Scrub. Casual. Nub. Unranked. Primordial Ooze.

This was my thought too. Sixteen hours is about how long most people spend awake in an average day anyway.

On the other hand, this kid was 14 and presumably not as equipped to deal with caning it like this.

On the other hand, he was at a CoD party and deserves everything he had coming to him.

On the other hand, calling this article "Gamer Ends up Comatose..." is a bit unnecessary, and should be changed to "Person Ends up Comatose...". The fact of him being a gamer is not the problem, and it's this sort of guilt by association that tarnishes gaming for everybody else.

 

[DEAD34345]

i still think that energy drinks will turn out like cigarettes and asbestos , ofcourse theres no evidence to back that up at all but hey , tobacco used to be good for you

caffeine addiction is seriuos business. its worse than alcohol addiction actually. Its just that most people are ignorant about it, then again same thing can be said about tabacco and alcohol.

According to who, or what?

Most of the things I've read and watched on the subject suggest that caffeine is actually pretty much harmless in the kinds of doses you can get from coffee and energy drinks, and many studies even claim long-term consumption has positive effects like reducing the likelihood of getting certain kinds of diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Physical caffeine addiction is a thing, but the withdrawal effects are extremely minor.

I really don't think caffeine addiction is anywhere near as much of an issue as tobacco or alcohol (though I could be wrong of course, people did claim tobacco was good for you for a long time after all).

OT: People really should be more sympathetic to this guy. He's only 14, and teens often do far stupider crap than drink too many energy drinks, give him a break. He certainly didn't deserve what has happened to him.

 

[Playful Pony]

After this happened our local newspapers started with the whole 'investigating' the true effects of energy drinks, and then came a couple of concerned parents with some overly conservative opinions on energy drinks. Generally there hasn't been much of a reaction to it though, I think most people understand that this is not something that happens very commonly... And I guess some people learned not to drink 4 liters of energy drink in a day.

The GOOD news is that at least videogames are not being blamed this time... Not in Norway (where the incident happened) anyway.

 

[fenrizz]

All I could think was "Good."

What a fucking idiot.

They're designed for a single boost of energy - and even then some fresh fruit or perhaps a granola bar would be better. They're not a supplement for your dietary needs.

I just hope this serves as an example as to how stupid this kind of product is.

And I'm sure you were the paragon of wisdom and intelligence when you were 14.

People really should be more sympathetic to this guy. He's only 14, and teens often do far stupider crap than drink too many energy drinks., give him a break. He certainly didn't deserve what has happened to him.

Indeed.
Compassion and empathy are nice qualities, even if we are on a forum on the interwebs.

 

[Jamieson 90]

Christ he's 14 so cut the kid a bit of slack, we all did stupid shit at that age, we just didn't have the internet to tell the entire world about it.

 

[DonTsetsi]

On one hand, he had a previous problem if such a dose did him in. On the other hand, he had a problem with his taste buds if he could stomach that much foul-tasting liquid.

 

[The White Hunter]

Ehh? Is he diabetic or something?

I mean that can't be good for you but I'm sure I've drank more than that in my stupider days.

Hmmmm. Sucks, kids do stupid things though I guess.

 

[Saltyk]

*Thinks of guy I knew who got drunk on those alcoholic energy drinks...*

Did he space them out? I ask, because large quantities of water (yes, WATER, the building block of life) can kill you. Admittedly you have to drink a few gallons in a short period of time, but that's my point. I also can't help but wonder what else he might have ingested. I would expect snack foods to also be present at a 16 hour LAN party. And other drinks, as well.

For that matter, I also wonder if he had slept any. I don't see any reason a person would need to drink that much of an energy drink unless he was low on sleep. Which is also dangerous for your health if you go long enough without sleep.

I have trouble feeling sympathy for this, but I also don't feel like he deserved it, like some other posters do.

 

[toms]

A lot of judgemental assholes in this thread..
Kids do stupid things, get over it.

That said, are they sure it was the energy drinks that did it?
If I played CoD for that long, my body would probably shut down in protest too.