Words With Friends Actually Saved Someone's Life
Here's a game that actually saved a life. Eat that, Jack Thompson.
If anyone tells you that games are bad, that games eat your brain cells or that games can kill, point them to this story. It's about a woman from Missouri, a woman from Australia, and a simple, casual word-based game that bridged them together across the gaping watery divide that is the Atlantic Ocean.
Oh, don't forget lots of luck.
Beth Legler of Blue Springs, Missouri, began playing Words With Friends on her smartphone more than two years ago. The beauty of this casual game is that it's multiplayer, bringing players from across the world together without the need for guns and swords and cows. This is the arena where she met Georgie Fletcher from Australia.
While the two were exchanging words, Georgie mentioned that her husband Simon wasn't feeling well. When asked what was wrong, she poured out his symptoms to her American friend... who just happened to be married to a doctor. Concerned, Beth relayed the symptoms to her husband Larry. He quickly diagnosed the Australian man's situation as critical, and urged the Australian couple head to the emergency room.
Trusting her long-time American friends, Georgie rushed her husband to the hospital and shortly discovered that Simon had a 99-percent blockage to his heart. Had he waited any longer, it could have killed him. Quickly.
"Had Larry not sent that message, I don't think Simon would have gone to the doctor that day," Beth told KCTV of Kansas City, Missouri.
"I've gotta buy that man a beer, he saved my life...I'd really like to put my arms around him and give him a big squeeze," Simon said from Australia. "I owe Larry everything...I'm really lucky to be here."
Now nearly three months later, all is well in Missouri and Australia. The two ladies continue to play their word game without ever having met in person, and all that much closer now thanks to Zynga and its social game, Words With Friends.
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I wonder how many deaths are related to physical inactivity due to playing puzzles all day long?
Atlantic ocean? seriously?
ohh come on!!!
Atlantic ocean? seriously? ohh come on!!!
that one, and Indian Ocean after that, and so on...
unless you go the direct route over the Pacific Ocean.
I believe that the Pacific Ocean is between the US and Australia.... Just uh... Just sayin'.
-sniff- I love happy endings..
good case for the arguement of a deity
Oh dear, looks like someone mistaken Australia for Austria..... those li are very sneaky letters.
Now lets please fix the article to say over the Pacific Ocean and not the Atlantic.
Oh dear, looks like someone mistaken Australia for Austria..... those li are very sneaky letters. Now lets please fix the article to say over the Pacific Ocean and not the Atlantic.
Meant to say al.....
Looks to me like nothing more than PR created by the company that created Words with Friends. That event with Alec Baldwin was a PR stunt too
good case for the arguement of a deity
lol...
Regardless of it being a game or not, these events happen with a lot of different things. Good for her to notice.
If you already notice something strange about someone's symptoms, why wouldn't you go to the doctor anyway? I mean especially for serious heart symptoms, it usually doesnt take a doctor to know something is alarming... it's not like trying to spot slight subtle differences between mild and serious flu symptoms.
@ Rolled
Ikr, I was thinking the same thing...
good case for the arguement of a deity
Yeah, it certainly wasn't the doctors knowledge or years of medical training. All credit goes to a magical super that there is no logical reason to believe in.
Apparently Mr. Parrish failed his geography class... over 1/4 of the above comments are pointing out that you don't cross the Atlantic ocean to get between the USA and Australia, but the Pacific. What surprises me is that this is NOT an error in the source material (it doesn't include anything about an "ocean gap") and that the error is still up in the article.
That event with Alec Baldwin was a PR stunt too
I dunno... It's Alec Baldwin we're talking about here; he has a propensity for occasionally putting his foot in his mouth, and ANYONE being that sociopathic as he was there would be completely unsurprising as-is.
If you already notice something strange about someone's symptoms, why wouldn't you go to the doctor anyway? I mean especially for serious heart symptoms, it usually doesnt take a doctor to know something is alarming... it's not like trying to spot slight subtle differences between mild and serious flu symptoms.
Cardiovascular illnesses don't come with glaringly obvious symptoms until it's too late: even a heart attack can not be immediately apparent; even a large portion will go without the normally-telltale chest pains, which even, on their own, could be mistaken for other causes, especially since they're typically combined with difficulty breathing.
And rushing to the emergency room every time even the slightest thing is wrong is one of the main reasons why health insurance is so unaffordable in the USA: it's because everybody uses the stuff constantly. Hence insurance prices go up: when everyone averages, say, 2 ER visits a year, (Averaging, say, $3,000US apiece; remember ER visits don't come cheap, and can become VERY expensive) that means that on average, insurance companies will expect to pay out an average of $6,000US a year on ER visits *alone* per person insured.
Outside the complete lack of geographical knowledge; seriously Atlantic Ocean, that was a great story.
IMHO, this guy should have contacted his own doctor or gone to the ER without ever asking the "words with friends" partner. However, having been in a similar situation myself, it is easy to deny that you need to get to the hospital.
Jack who? Seriously that guy has been out of action for years now, thankfully.
This should read: American pen pal's husband Doctor saves Australian fat guy's heart.
This has nothing to do with the game saving anybody's life. Who writes this crap?
I do play the free version of Words with Friends. I did try it and its so much fun.Me and my friends love to play it. We also use the ANAGRAMMER to give us more hint.Try to google it so you will know about it.
This is cool.I use the IPHONE 5 just to play this game.. I play this everyday on my iPhone.Its so addicting and very fun..I use the ANAGRAMMER also so I can have some hints in times of trouble.
Crazy! Perhaps I should increase number of friends I play with in case of any emergencies!
Love this version! Compatable with your Facebook game and no waiting between plays!.. I also use the ANAGRAMMER to give us hints..
I adore this game! I can't get enough of it. Sometimes I'll have 10 games going at one time and I get anxiety and feel the pressure, but it's all in good fun! It's the best money I've ever spent on an iPhone application.I also use the ANAGRAMMER to give me more hints..