Pokemon GO Player Loses Sight in One Eye After Nasty Fall

Another severe injury is being reported today, warning all Pokemon GO players to take serious precautions when playing the game on the go. A 14 year-old boy from Washington was playing the game and looking at his phone when he tripped and fell. The accident left him with an injury that, days later, caused him to lose sight completely in one eye. This, according to the Medical Journal of Australia, which reports:

“We report a case of serious injury playing Pokémon GO. A 14-year-old boy, distracted by this popular mobile phone game, fell and completely lost vision in his left eye. Only a dense relative afferent pupillary defect was present initially. A computed tomography scan showed a mildly impacted and laterally angulated fracture of the lateral wall of the left orbit just posterior to the zygomatico-sphenoid suture.”

I know, that turned pretty technical pretty quickly, but the gist is this: the injury didn’t seem that bad at first. This was just a normal kid going about a normal day, and because he his full attention was arrested by the glow of a small screen, he ended up tripping and falling — ether hitting something on the way down, or landing on his face. At the time he suffered a painful fracture near his left eye, but at the time that appeared to be the extent of the injury. If he had friends with him, perhaps they even laughed about it.

The fracture issued severe damage to his optic nerve over time, though. After two days the damage had been done, and is apparently irreparable. That kid will never see out of that eye again, save the possibility of surgery.

The moral of the story? Pay attention when you’re playing Pokemon GO. Don’t play the game and stare at your screen when you’re actively on the move, since you can never know what kind of obstructions might cross your path. Never play the game while driving.

It’s nice that Pokemon GO encourages players to get out and be in the in the real world, but don’t forget to be in the real world. If that means dropping $35 on the Pokemon GO Plus bracelet so you’re less tempted to stare at your screen then so be it. We’ll gladly trade $40 for the privilege of seeing out of both eyes.