Avid gamer has to have his right leg amputated after falling onto a railway track while hunting POKEMON

An eager Pokemon Go player has paid an extraordinarily high price in his quest to catch them all.

The man had to have his right leg amputated after falling onto an electrified train track while walking around absorbed in his smartphone.

He fell face down onto the rails and suffered third and fourth degree burns to his legs, chest, arm and jaw, and needed multiple operations to recover.

The doctor reporting on his case warned growing numbers of people are getting seriously injured or dying when using their phones while walking around.

The 'fit and well young man', who wasn't identified, was rushed to A&E in Salisbury, Wiltshire, after tripping and falling onto a railway track.

He had high-voltage electrical burns across the front of both thighs, his right knee and elbow, his chest and the right side of his face.

Covering seven per cent of his body, the burns were full-thickness - meaning they burned through all his skin and into the muscle and tissue beneath.
Burns so severe can char the skin and destroy the nerves beneath – a nerve in the front of his leg was destroyed so he lost all movement in his right foot.

The man was rushed into the operating room where doctors worked to cut off the burned and dead skin and muscle.

After two days in hospital he then returned to surgery to have more flesh removed, along with his kneecap, which had begun to rot.

Doctors finally decided to amputate his right leg above the knee, leaving the hapless gamer with a 'significant disability' because of his fantasy quest.

Dr Kai Yuen Wong, who wrote about the case in the journal BMJ Case Reports, 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.'

High-voltage electrical injuries such as this also carry a 73 per cent risk of brain damage, he wrote.

'Limb salvage was not possible in this patient,' added Dr Wong.

'And therefore, in addition to his acute care, the disease burden will include the long-term costs associated with an above knee amputation in a young man.'

The case report also delved into the effects of people using mobile phones while walking and driving, and the deaths and injuries it causes.

Dr Wong warned more and more people are harming themselves because they don't pay enough attention to their surroundings while travelling.

He said past research has shown people are almost half as likely to notice hazards around them if they are looking down at their phone.

And another study estimated Pokemon Go contributed to 150,000 traffic accidents and 256 deaths in the first 148 days after the game's release.

'Pedestrian injuries due to mobile phone use increased 35 per cent between 2010 and 2014,' added the Cambridge-based plastic surgeon.

'In 2010, the estimated number of injuries among pedestrians using mobile phones in the US was 1,506.

'However, the number of injuries that could be attributed to distraction is likely higher due to under-reporting.

'It has been suggested that distraction could account for one in 10 pedestrian injuries and deaths.'

Another gamer paid the ultimate price for his Pokemon Go passion in 2016 when he and his cousin were shot dead while walking along an old train track.

Jerson Lopez de Leon, 18, died after being ambushed with Daniel Moises Picen, 17, on a street in the town of Chiquimula, Guatemala.

Nearly 20 bullet casings were found at the scene of the murder where the pair had been hunting the virtual creatures – Daniel was seriously wounded but survived.

Police were not sure why the pair were shot at, but think thieves may have been trying to take their mobile phones.

Source: The Daily Mail

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