While we recently learned of the death of a Chinese streamer due to too many hours of gaming, it's important to remember that the world of video games is also populated by inspiring and positive anecdotes. The story of Aidan Jackson, a 17-year-old from Widnes, England, and Dia Lathora, a 20-year-old American gamer from Texas, is an amazing testament to friendship and vigilance in the digital age.
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Dia called for help from 8,000 km away
It all started when Aidan Jackson and Dia Lathora were playing an online video game together in voice chat at the same time. The young man told Dia he was going to lie down for a few moments because 'he felt weird'. Alarmed by this disturbing announcement, Dia quickly perceived that there was a problem. The major challenge lay in the distance between them: 8,000 kilometers, with Dia in Texas, USA, and Aidan in Widnes, England.
But the girl didn't care, and didn't hesitate to call the local emergency services to warn them that something was wrong. The emergency services, along with the police, quickly arrived at Aidan's home, explaining that they had received a call from the USA reporting that a young man was apparently having a seizure.
Aidan's parents had no idea
Aidan's parents, Caroline and Steve Jackson, were completely caught off guard when the police and an ambulance arrived at their door. They found their son extremely disoriented, having no idea what had happened upstairs.
Aidan suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's Syndrome, and he had suffered a similar seizure a few months earlier. Quickly attended to by paramedics, he was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he underwent several tests as his condition improved. Dia explains:
I had just put my helmet back on and heard what I could only describe as a seizure, so obviously I started to worry and immediately started asking him what was going on and if he was okay, when he didn't answer, I quickly went to look up an emergency number for Europe.
'We can never thank Dia enough'
Dia explained how she realized that her friend was in danger, and how she managed to save him from the other side of the world. In the end, thankfully, more fear than harm for Aidan and his parents. They were quick to thank her:
We can't thank Dia and Health Services enough for what they did, considering the 8,000 kilometers between Dia and Aidan. We always tell our kids to be careful who they talk to online, but in this case, it was priceless.
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This article has been translated from Gentside FR.
