14 DAY TRIAL // The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is said to have claimed its first victim. Thus, a young man in China is believed to have been killed by sleep deprivation after spending several nights in a row awake in order to watch the games.
The time difference between China and Brazil is one of about 11 hours. This means that football fans in China who are dead set on watching the games live have no choice but to stay up most of the night.
More precisely, they have to remain glued to their television sets between midnight and 6 a.m. Add to this the fact that, come morning, they have to get to work, and it is no wonder that many experience exhaustion.
According to RT, the man believed to have died as a result of sleep deprivation caused by staying up all night to watch the FIFA World Cup was just 25 years old and lived in the city of Suzhou, in eastern China.
By the looks of it, his lifeless body was discovered this past Saturday morning in his room. The match during which the 25-year-old succumbed to exhaustion is said to have been the one between the Netherlands and Spain.
Ironically enough, it would appear that, at the time the 25-year-old's body was discovered, the television set was still airing a football match. Needless to say, the man never got to watch this game, not even a short fragment of it.
Shortly after the man's body was taken to the local Xiangcheng People's Hospital, doctors announced that, according to evidence at hand, the 25-year-old's death was the result of exhaustion caused by sleep deprivation.
Still, they added that, all things considered, it might also be that the man passed away after suffering a heart attack. Whether this episode was in any way related to lack of sleep or getting too worked up while watching the games remains a mystery.
Interestingly enough, this is not the first time that being a tad too passionate about football kills a man in China. In fact, it was two years ago, during the Euro 2012, that another man stayed up for 11 nights in a row to watch the championship and ended up dying of exhaustion.
Following the death of the 25-year-old in Suzhou this past weekend, doctors are asking that football fans in China put their health and wellbeing first, and choose rest over watching one match or another. Hopefully, Chinese football fans will not ignore this piece of advice.