If Pokemon Go hadn’t recently become an international sensation, one young man could very well be dead.
Jeanette Warner was recently playing Pokemon Go at the request of her granddaughter. The pair traveled to a nearby park and witnessed several young boys who were picking on another young man.
“They were making him run sprints, not letting him get a drink, just being real turkeys,” Warner said.
At first, she ignored the children and continued to play Pokemon Go. Eventually, when returning to the same area she realized something was wrong.
“At that point, he was on his hands and knees with one of the boys standing over him,” she said.
As Warner approached, the young boys hopped on their bikes and took off. The youngest boy was so exhausted he couldn’t even stand up.
“He was really stumbling, and he fell face first into the rocks,” Warner said. It was 100 degrees outside at the time of the incident.
Warner admits that she would never have been outside on a 100-degree day, but Pokemon Go led her into the heat.
Paramedics arrived after she called 911. The boy was suffering from heat stroke. He was taken to a nearby hospital and later airlifted to a children’s hospital. The incident is now being investigated by the Department of Child Safety.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Warner said after finding the boy and saving his life. “If it wasn’t for my son loading Pokemon on my phone, and me coming back to the park to reload the balls for my granddaughter, I never would’ve been in the right place at the right time to see this little guy needed help.”
So don’t knock Pokemon Go — it’s literally saving lives.
