People love playing Pokemon GO, even in situations where they perhaps shouldn’t. So far we’ve seen engrossed players get into car accidents, get mugged and even fall off a bluff while playing. For many players, these accidents brought at least a temporary end to their Pokemon journey, but for this man, not even a stab wound was enough to stop his pursuit of virtual Pokemon.
Michael Baker was out and about in his home of Forest Grove capturing Pokemon when he ran into another man he believed to be playing Pokemon GO. When Baker asked if the man was playing Pokemon GO, he instead pulled a knife and rushed at Baker, stabbing him in the shoulder. Despite this nasty injury, Baker chose not to seek immediate medical help and instead continued to play Pokemon GO for some time before eventually getting the wound attended to which required eight stitches.
When interviewed on the incident by KPTV, Baker stood by his choice to continue playing, even playing it off like it was part of the game. “I saw him go by and asked if he was playing Pokémon Go. He was like ‘what?’ I guess he wanted to battle because he came up at me with a knife,” he said. As for why he continued to play “Its been too long, too long. Gotta be the first one to catch them all.”
While few can claim to be as dedicated to catching them all as Baker, this incident highlights how careful you have to be when playing games out in the open world. Thankfully there have been no reported Pokemon GO related fatalities to date, but this incident highlights the very real possibility.
