KUALA LUMPUR: A man in China lost sensation from the waist down after he allegedly played video games for 20 hours non-stop last week.
The man was reportedly playing video games at a cybercafe in Jiaxing, Zhejiang from the evening of Jan 27 until the afternoon of Jan 28.
According to Chinese news site QQ.com, the man only realised he could not move his lower limbs when he wanted to take a toilet break.
One of his friends who was at the scene said: “It seemed he had lost sensation completely, and couldn't move at all. We had to call for an ambulance."
When the ambulance arrived, the medical staff quickly put him on a stretcher and prepared to send him to hospital.
However, he was still reluctant to abandon the game, and begged his friends to finish the game for him.
It remains unclear what game the man had been playing.
A video of the incident shows the man’s friend and paramedics working together to move the paralysed man from a chair to a stretcher.
As noted by the Daily Mail, video game addiction has become a major social issue among youth in China.
An alarming number of young people are choosing to play online games, mobile games, or surf the web instead of prioritising their studies or even family.
Many parents are turning to 'digital detox' rehab camps as a last resort to curb their children's addiction to the digital world. Rehab can take from three to six months, or even longer if the youth does not react positively to treatment.
China was the first country to declare 'internet addiction' as a clinical disorder in 2008. – SAYS.COM