Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/oper5mtwpoen7pb/VRP56819.mp4?dl=0
A hardcore gamer was found dead after continually staying up through the night to play on his smartphone, police believe.
Dej Nam, 18, failed to go down for lunch so his baffled mother went to check on him in Mae Hong Son province, Thailand on August 19.
The mum, Ging, 42, was worried as the bedroom door was locked and the youngster failed to answer her calls so she asked neighbours to help her break into the room.
They were shocked to find the shirtless gamer laying on the floor with bloody saliva flowing from his mouth and a mobile phone next to his body.
The devastated mother said: ‘My son never turned up to have breakfast and get ready for school. I knocked on his door but nobody came out.
‘I assumed that there was no school so I just let him sleep but around 2pm I went to the room again but it was still silent and he was not answering.’
Ging added that she sleeps in the room next to her son and only heard him showering at midnight before shutting his bedroom door.
She said: ‘I only heard him showering around midnight and closed the door. My son does not drink or do drugs but has a habit of staying up until morning playing games on his mobile phone and computer.
‘I never worried about him doing that as I thought he was safe in his room.’
Officers later arrived at the scene and took the gamer’s body to the hospital for an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.
Police Captain Kittisak Kammana said: ‘There were no traces of injuries or electrocution. There were also no drugs at the scene. The deceased did not have any underlying disease. Doctors said he had been dead for several hours before he was found.
‘This young man may have died from heart failure due to lack of sleep. In addition, he had to wake up early to go to school every day. His body was not getting enough rest, causing this sudden death.’
The gamer’s relatives had no doubts about the cause of death so his body had been returned to them for funeral arrangements.