Lockdown dangers: Young man dies of blood clot after video game binge
A father has warned parents and young people to stay active during the coronavirus lockdown after his 24-year-old son died from deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
In a post on Facebook, Stanley Greening, 56, from Bedfordshire, in the UK told friends about the death of his son Louis O’Neill in early June.
“On 3rd June something so awful happened, the worst imaginable thing to happen to such a young man and the worst imaginable thing to happen to a parent,” he wrote.
“My son, my dear boy, Louis, has gone. Not from the evil virus but because of it. His young life, barely begun, still trying to find his feet, just torn away.”
Louis had been furloughed from his job as a soccer coach at Centre Parcs since mid-March, when the UK COVID-19 lockdown was first imposed.
The young man then took to online gaming with friends to pass time, Stanley said.
“Caught up in a virtual world he became less active, so easily done. Hours fly by when absorbed by the screen, I’ve done it countless times myself,” Stanley said.
Two weeks before his death, Louis complained about a pain in his leg. He called emergency responders, who told him it could be food poisoning.
“But no one, and I mean no one, ever in a million years would have predicted a blood clot,” Stanley said.
“Who is warning youngsters? Who is warning anyone, of any age? No one!! So I am. My son will live on, I shall continue to spread this warning in his name.”
Stanley said conversations with medical professionals revealed that cases of DVT in young people have been rising since the lockdown began.
DVT is a blood clot that occurs in a deep vein, most commonly in the leg. Some of the risk factors associated with DVT include obesity, pregnancy, smoking, and certain medications as well as long periods of inactivity.
“As more and more of us are working from home it is likely you are not getting out your chair as much as you need. Stand up, walk around, and please, warn your kids,” Stanley said.