A Pokemon Go gamer lost his leg after he fell onto an electrified train track while playing.
The man who was walking around totally absorbed in the game, had to have his right leg amputated after he fell onto an electrified train track.
In the latest case highlighting the dangers of people using their mobile phones whilst walking or driving, the ‘fit and well young man’ suffered third and fourth degree burns to his ‘leg, chest, arm and jaw’, requiring multiple operations to recover.
The man, who has not been identified, also suffered from electrical burns across the front of both thighs, his right knee and elbow, his chest as well as the right side of his face.
The full thickness burns covered 7% of his body, burning through all of his skin and into the muscle and tissue beneath.
The resultant burns also destroyed a nerve in the front of his leg, meaning he lost all movement in his right foot. After two days of hospital treatment where he had to have flesh removed, doctors were left with no option but to amputate his right leg above the knee, leaving the gamer with a ‘significant disability’.
The Mail reported that the case was written about in the journal, BMJ Case Reports by Dr Kai Yuen Wong, who said: ‘Media coverage has reported on safety incidents involving Pokémon Go, including people becoming stranded, risky behaviour at the sites of known minefields and the unfortunate death of a teenager.’ Dr Wong added: ‘Limb salvage was not possible in this patient.’ Dr Wong also warned that increasing numbers of people are harming themselves because they don’t pay enough attention to their surroundings whilst travelling.
He said research had also revealed that people are almost half as likely to notice hazards around them if they are looking down at their phone.
