Recently I was doing some reading on news sites and other stuff, mainly Reddit r/news (maybe not the best source but it does link to the actual source) when I stumbled on this article: Teenager having seizure saved by online gamer – 5,000 miles away in Texas. Basically what happened was Aiden Jackson was playing video games with their online friend from across the globe, and he had a seizure. His friend, Dia Lathora, was playing video games with him at the time, and noticed that he was making sounds and noises that “I could only describe as a seizure”(Lathora). She tried asking if he was okay, and he was unresponsive. So she tried to find the emergency number for the UK, and called it to get police and medical assistance sent to Aiden’s house. Aiden’s parents were downstairs, unaware that Aiden was having a seizure, so they were understandably surprised when police and ambulance showed up outside. They went upstairs to find that Aiden was “extremely disorientated”(Caroline Jackson). Aiden was then given medical assistance and is now okay. All in all a good ending, with no one hurt.
I like this article for a lot of reasons. To me it shows the power of video games in our huge world. The ability to play a game with someone that is thousands of miles away keeps us connected. Not only do they let people stay connected, but people can even make new friends from people they meet online. Two people from opposite sides of the world were playing games together, and being friends. The fact that Dia possibly saved Aiden’s life by calling emergency services for him while on the other side of the world shows how video games can be helpful. Beyond that actual helpfulness of being connected, just being friends with other people around the world is fun. In most other ways, it’s difficult to make connections with people so far. The internet changes this and allows us to converse with anyone, anywhere. However, being able to converse isn’t all. You can also play games over the internet, similar to how you would play soccer or baseball with friends close to you. For example, I have a friend that lives in Canada, while I live in the US. I play video games with him, like League of Legends or Rainbow Six Siege. We stay close friends because we play a lot of video games together.
I think this story can be a lesson for all of us. Video games save lives. But really, video games help keep us connected, and can keep people of different backgrounds living in different countries linked. There are almost no other things that exist that can do this, which is why I like playing video games. Meeting people online that you would never meet in real life can be fun. This is why I would recommend anyone play video games. You might meet some people that will become your friends, or you can play with friends you already have that live in other countries.
A Blog From a Guy Who Plays Games 