Dance Dance... Clear!

We always knew there was something very dangerous about a video game that didn't require you to sit on your ass while playing it, and now Dance Dance Revolution has almost claimed its first victim, a 15-year-old girl in Nebraska who was playing it at the local mall when she collapsed and needed to have her heart restarted by paramedics using a defibrillator.

[Via Games.Slashdot.org]

[Paulo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

"The diagnosis, once Wilson got to a hospital, was hypertrophy cardiomyopathy. The walls around her heart are so thick that her heart wasn't getting the signals to beat....The heart problem is genetic...."

It wasn't DDR that caused the heart condition; she could have been doing just about anything requiring strenuous physical activity.

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Such as sleeping?

[Ky Beak @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

If you read the article carefully enough, the culprit of the heart attack was a genetic condition that would've occured anytime anywhere. So please...please...please stop blaming videogames.

[Julie Wilson @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Paulo is right! It�s hypertrophy cardiomyopathy that had made her heart stop. With hypertrophy cardiomyopathy you can be sitting, walking, sleeping, or playing a game, and your heart stop. It has noting to do with DDR. We told our story to the news to let people know that this heart condition is out there, and it�s a killer. We were very lucky that Kimber was not killed, she was in the right place with all the right people around her. I didn�t know I had it until my husband and I went and got tested 3 days after Kimber collapsed. The only test you can do to find out if you have it is an echocardiogram, a simple EKG won�t find it.

Thank you Paulo, we didn�t tell this story to make people stop using DDR, I think it�s a good game for kids, maybe not for ones with hypertrophy cardiomyopathy, but it gets other kids up and moving

[Madison @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Pfft. Of course, once you find something fun, someone has to find something bad about it. Get off your ass, go outside! ... But first, watch the back-to-back 5 hour marathon of L;ASKDAFJN!
Ugh.

[Jason Pugh @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I'm glad she is okay. I am 21 and play DDR at least once a week. When I firsted started playing, after 6 songs I was breathing heavy and tired. It really got me thinking about getting myself back into shape. I almost threw up once from playing too many games in a row, but I'm obsessive. Exercise is good stuff folks, just make sure you can handle it.

[Kevin Yasutomi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

the concept of people having nearly passed out is mainly because they were too reckless in choosing fast songs as an initial mix. the way i play is by using warm-ups, like 5-footers and such. i also have concluded that people that play too extensively can probably just be dehydrated, which happens commonly and which is also the reason why people always carry water bottles on them. that and gatorade or something. but nonetheless, DDR is also a hobby. as of now, i have been playing DDR for 6 months, and and now getting better. i am also capable of playing for hours, because i eat a lot before that, take my advice, eat first before DDR, otherwise wind up tired after, can you believe that from a 16 year old? just kidding but i am 16 and study people's movements to get better, email me if you have any questions about my post.

[Julie @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Kimber Wilson got on the DDR after 2 months and and did it, with her pacemaker and all she got on the DDR, picked out her song and danced. She is ok, and she plans on getting on the DDR again soon.

[Paulo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

"The diagnosis, once Wilson got to a hospital, was hypertrophy cardiomyopathy. The walls around her heart are so thick that her heart wasn't getting the signals to beat....The heart problem is genetic...."

It wasn't DDR that caused the heart condition; she could have been doing just about anything requiring strenuous physical activity.

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Such as sleeping?

[Ky Beak @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

If you read the article carefully enough, the culprit of the heart attack was a genetic condition that would've occured anytime anywhere. So please...please...please stop blaming videogames.

[Julie Wilson @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Paulo is right! It�s hypertrophy cardiomyopathy that had made her heart stop. With hypertrophy cardiomyopathy you can be sitting, walking, sleeping, or playing a game, and your heart stop. It has noting to do with DDR. We told our story to the news to let people know that this heart condition is out there, and it�s a killer. We were very lucky that Kimber was not killed, she was in the right place with all the right people around her. I didn�t know I had it until my husband and I went and got tested 3 days after Kimber collapsed. The only test you can do to find out if you have it is an echocardiogram, a simple EKG won�t find it.

Thank you Paulo, we didn�t tell this story to make people stop using DDR, I think it�s a good game for kids, maybe not for ones with hypertrophy cardiomyopathy, but it gets other kids up and moving

[Madison @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Pfft. Of course, once you find something fun, someone has to find something bad about it. Get off your ass, go outside! ... But first, watch the back-to-back 5 hour marathon of L;ASKDAFJN!
Ugh.

[Jason Pugh @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I'm glad she is okay. I am 21 and play DDR at least once a week. When I firsted started playing, after 6 songs I was breathing heavy and tired. It really got me thinking about getting myself back into shape. I almost threw up once from playing too many games in a row, but I'm obsessive. Exercise is good stuff folks, just make sure you can handle it.

[Kevin Yasutomi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

the concept of people having nearly passed out is mainly because they were too reckless in choosing fast songs as an initial mix. the way i play is by using warm-ups, like 5-footers and such. i also have concluded that people that play too extensively can probably just be dehydrated, which happens commonly and which is also the reason why people always carry water bottles on them. that and gatorade or something. but nonetheless, DDR is also a hobby. as of now, i have been playing DDR for 6 months, and and now getting better. i am also capable of playing for hours, because i eat a lot before that, take my advice, eat first before DDR, otherwise wind up tired after, can you believe that from a 16 year old? just kidding but i am 16 and study people's movements to get better, email me if you have any questions about my post.

[Julie @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Kimber Wilson got on the DDR after 2 months and and did it, with her pacemaker and all she got on the DDR, picked out her song and danced. She is ok, and she plans on getting on the DDR again soon.