23-year-old video game enthusiast, Ong Yee Haw was found slumped over the keyboard of his computer monitor by his uncle at 4pm.
Ong was said to have been playing video games at a cybercafe from 10pm on Sunday until 1pm the next day, before returning home to his own computer. A post-mortem report confirmed that Ong died of a heart attack.
His mother Chew Qun Juan, 62, said her only son became a computer games addict since he stopped working at a restaurant five months ago, shortly after a motorcycle accident.
“He injured his right hand and had to stop working. I constantly told him not to spend too much time on computer games but he never listened.
“I single-handedly raised him after my husband died of cardiac arrest 15 years ago. Words cannot describe my sadness now. I only hope that others, who are also addicted to computer games, will learn something from this.
“I hope this will not happen to anyone else. My son was still so young,” Ong’s mother said. Ong was cremated at the Batu Gantung crematorium on Tuesday afternoon.
This isn’t the first report of death due to computer addiction. Last December, a 35-year-old broker was found dead inside his home, and was believed to have been playing video games when he died. In 2011, a 33-year-old man in China died after playing online games at a cybercafe for 27 days in a row, during which time he barely ate or slept. In another case in 2011, 20-year-old Chris Staniforth died in May from deep vein thrombosis. It is believed that a blood clot traveled from his legs into his lungs, killing him instantly.
If you’re a video game addict who can play games up to 3 hours straight, you’re already putting yourself at risk of a health problem. Take a break every few hours to stretch, eat healthy and get some fresh air.
