Gamer Saves Pal's Life From 5K Miles Away

Dia Lathora called UK police all the way from Texas

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 11, 2020 4:00 PM CST

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Gamer Saves Pal's Life From 5K Miles Away — Stock image. (Getty Images)

Looks like video games come with a built-in safety net. A teenager in Widnes, England, had a sudden seizure while gaming last week with an online friend—and that friend, 5,000 miles away in Texas, called the police, CBS News reports. "I could hear him seizing and breathing really hard and it sounds like he was choking and crying," said Dia Lathora, 20, in her emergency call to UK police about 17-year-old Aidan Jackson. "I'm calling from the US. I'm currently on a call with my friend, he had a seizure and he's not responding anymore." It wasn't long before police pulled up outside a home in Widnes, an industrial town of about 61,000 in Cheshire.

"I assumed they were in the area for another reason and then they ran up to the front door," Aidan's mom, Caroline Jackson, tells the BBC. "They said there was an unresponsive male at the address. We said we hadn't called anyone and they said a call had come from America." She checked on her son, Aidan—who had last suffered a seizure in May—and sure enough he was disoriented. "We are extremely thankful for what Dia did and shocked that we could be downstairs and not know anything was happening," says Caroline. "I've spoken to her and expressed our thanks—she's just glad she could help. Aidan is a lot better and hopefully everything is OK when he has his appointment at the hospital but he's doing well."

(More video games stories.)

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