Teenager who suffered seizure saved by online gamer 5,000 miles away
A British teenager who experienced a seizure in his bedroom was saved by an online gamer nearly 5,000 miles away in Texas, the Liverpool Echo reports.
On Jan. 2, Aidan Jackson, 17, was talking to 20-year-old gamer Dia Lathora in his bedroom in Widnes when he suffered the seizure. His parents, Caroline and Steve Jackson, were purportedly watching TV downstairs when three officers appeared at their door and told the Jacksons that they had received an emergency call from the U.S.
"They said there was an unresponsive male at the address," Caroline recalled in an interview with the BBC. "We said we hadn't called anyone and they said a call had come from America. I immediately went to check on Aidan and found him extremely disorientated."
In a separate interview with the Liverpool Echo, Lathora, who has never met Aidan, said she noticed something was wrong when her conversation with the teenager ended abruptly.
"I just put my headset back on and I heard what I could only describe as a seizure, so obviously I started to get worried and immediately started asking what was going on and if he was okay," she said. "When he didn’t respond, I instantly started to look up the emergency number for the EU."
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Lathora said she eventually got a hold of someone — through a non-emergency number — and explained the situation.
"I told [the person on the phone] that I wasn’t from the EU and I was trying to get help for my friend who had just had a seizure in England," she told the Liverpool Echo. "Right after I hung up, I heard [Aidan] finally responding."
Lathora added that she heard the entire incident — including when Aidan's parents checked in on him — play out thousands of miles away.
"The most surreal thing was hearing his mom come upstairs with the medical team, hearing them talk to him, asking if he’s doing OK, saying that I had just called them saying he had a seizure," the 20-year-old said. "I was really scared and worried, but I’m glad I stayed level-headed enough to call the emergency and get him checked out."
According to the newspaper, Aidan, who has ADHD and Asperger's, had previously experienced a seizure last May.
"We can’t thank Dia and the emergency services enough for what they did, considering the 4,750 miles between Dia and Aidan," Caroline told the publication.
"We always say to the kids, be careful who you speak to online, but in this case, it was invaluable," she added.
