While playing a game with her friend from the UK, 20-year-old Texan Dia Lathora could tell something was wrong from 5,000 miles away. She soon realized that 17-year-old Aidan Jackson was having a seizure. That’s when she called the Cheshire Police, ultimately saving his life.
“I’m calling from the US,” Lathora said in a call to dispatchers. “I’m curently in a call with my friend. He had a siezure and he’s not responding anymore. Sorry, I’m shaking.”
Lathora later told Liverpool Echo that she had started to get worried when she heard Jackson having a seizure on the other end of her headset. She started asking him if he was okay.
“When he didn’t respond I instantly started to look up the emergency number for the EU. When that didn’t work I just had to hope the non-emergency would work. It had an option for talking to a real person…and I can’t tell you how quickly I clicked that button,” she said.
Lathora gave the police Jackson’s address and ambulances raced to his home. Meanwhile, his parents were unaware downstairs. When two police cars arrived out front, they assumed they were going elsewhere, but they ended up knocking at their door.
“They said they had a call about an unresponsive male at the address. We said we didn’t call anyone. They said the call was from America, about a possible seizure. I immediately thought, ‘Aidan’ and ran upstairs,” his mother recalled.
Jackson was disoriented and “not really with it at all” when she reached his bedroom.
When Jackson finally began to realize what was going on, he was surrounded by his parents and police. After having some tests done at the hospital, Jackson managed to get a hold of Lathora.
“I thanked her at least five or 10 times,” he said during an interview with Sky News. “I still thank her every day.”
Jackson is back to gaming, but now his parents insist that his door stays open just in case.
While some outside of the gaming community often think of video games as anti-social behavior, that statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Many gamers have met lifelong friends through playing their favorite games. Some people have even gotten
married after meeting through games like World of Warcraft
and other titles.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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