Other - Boy drank gasoline to copy his TV heroes

[chillinwill]

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy drank gasoline for five years to obtain "energy" - just as his idols "Bumble Bee" or "Optimus Prime" do in "Transformers," the Sichuan-based West China Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

After the boy, in Yibin City, southwest Sichuan Province, had watched the animated TV series, he began to drink gasoline to become a "valiant fighter" like "Optimus Prime," his father told the newspaper.

"He began to drink gasoline five years ago, when we found he liked smelling lighter fuel," he said.

The boy's mother owned a grocery stall, selling small goods such as lighters.

In 2004, she often found lighters missing two or three days after she'd bought them. She later found that her son had been stealing them.

The parents talked to their son and asked him not to do it again. "But afterwards we found our motorcycle's gasoline was always disappearing, and one day when we found the boy had drunk a half bottle of gasoline stolen from the motorcycle, we were too shocked to say anything," the father said.

IQ dropped

They locked the motorcycle away after that but the boy began to steal gasoline from neighbors and was drinking more and more - two or three bottles at a time.

"Since my son started to drink gas, his IQ has dropped sharply and now he can't figure out simple addition and subtraction," the father said.

"Before that, he was a very smart boy, and he could even repair the television. But now he does not know the answer of 7 plus 17."

The worried parents finally took their son to hospital where they were told the boy had a mental disorder and a strong "gasoline dependence."

"The gasoline contains a lot of lead, which can do harm to people's brains. To make thing even worse, the boy is in the physical development stage, and the lead has caused serious damage to his body," Peng Houquan, a doctor from a hospital in Yibin, said.

"Transformers" is now a Hollywood blockbuster movie franchise and the second live-action film is currently breaking box office records in China.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" has gained 400 million yuan (US$58.4 million) in the country, breaking the record set by "Titanic" 10 years ago.

July 20, 2009
Shanghai Daily
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/arti...cle_407995.htm

[rhcpeppers1234]

As sad as this is....I still find myself laughing and wondering, why the FUCK didnt the parents do anything the first time they found him stealing shit???

[ex-junkie]

not to be rude, but how fucking pathetic. for the kid and the parents.

[coelho]

Originally Posted by chillinwill

"Since my son started to drink gas, his IQ has dropped sharply and now he can't figure out simple addition and subtraction," the father said.

Well... if someone started drinking gasoline because he saw it on TV, probably he already hadnt a much high IQ to start with...

Reputation Comments on this post:

	good point.
	Very true, he obviously was much less inteligent that your average person to begin with.

[chinpokomaster]

"Before that, he was a very smart boy"

Why the fuck did he decide to start drinking gasoline, then?!

"and he could even repair the television"

Yes, but he probably only learnt that so he could continue to watch cartoon characters drinking petrol.

[Phungushead]

There is seriously something missing from this story, either that or it is
some kind of joke or sarcasm. Maybe since the story is from China,
somehow there was a mistake in translation or something. I don't know,
but there is just something not right here.

If this kid was really drinking as much gasoline as this article leads you to
believe, he would have probably been dead a long time ago... if not from
the gasoline itself, from the severe damage and resulting complications to
his organs that drinking all that shit over that period of time would have
caused.

This is from the department of health's agency for toxic substances and
disease registry. I know the story is in China, but I kind of doubt that
their gas any less toxic than in the US (which is what the below is talking
about). In fact, since China's gasoline still has lead added, that would
make it even worse...

Gasoline is not as readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract as from
the respiratory tract. In adults, about 20 to 50 g can cause severe
intoxication and 350 g (12 oz.) can result in death for a 70 kg individual. As
little as 10 to 15 g (less than one-half ounce) may be fatal in children.
Symptoms of intoxication by ingestion of gasoline can range from vomiting,
vertigo, drowsiness and confusion to loss of consciousness, convulsions,
hemorrhaging of the lungs and internal organs, and death due to circulatory
failure. Ingestion can cause irritation to the gastrointestinal mucosa and
can be complicated by pulmonary aspiration, resulting in chemical
pneumonitis.

And that is for an acute poisoning... supposedly this kid was drinking 2 or
3 bottles of gas (and god only knows how big these bottles they are
talking about are) over 5 years. Is it even possible to become "dependent"
on gasoline, like listed in the article? Correct me if I am wrong here, but I
have never heard of that in my life.

It makes me wonder what the background is behind this kid in the first
place. I mean, anyone over the age of at least 5 knows not to drink stuff
like that. And I don't think gasoline would taste exactly good... there are
plenty of other things out there that will give you "energy", like the article
claims the kid was trying to get. Don't you think after a few times of
drinking gas (and probably getting pretty damn sick) he would have gotten
the point that maybe that wasn't a good idea?

Anyway, just my 2 cents... I really hope that this is a prank of some kind,
but if this is serious/true, then it is beyond screwed up (the worst part
being the reaction by the parents - I know that if I had a kid who began
to drink gasoline, I certainly would not wait as long as this kid's parents
did to take him to a hospital [medical or mental in this case] - one of the
main responsibilities of a parent is to protect their kid, which they have
severely failed at seeing as how it seems that they were aware of this
pretty much the whole time).

There's gotta be more to this. Is anyone else thinking that this is
somehow flawed?

On a less serious note though, that's taking the whole "you are what you
eat" sentiment to a literal extreme - drink gas, become a transformer

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Well broken down with facts and info.
	A factual look at this articles gaping holes
	brings much-needed objective analysis of the story

[Richi]

Originally Posted by Phungushead

Is it even possible to become "dependent"
on gasoline, like listed in the article? Correct me if I am wrong here, but I
have never heard of that in my life.

It is possible to become addicted to gasoline, as it is a very addictive substance along with many other solvents. I imagine it would be possible to become dependent on it as well.

The same article is covered by China Daily, in a little more detail.

A 14-year-old boy trying to mimic the popular Transformers characters on TV has developed mental disorders and a dependence on gasoline after drinking the fuel over the past five years.

"He began to drink gasoline ever since he saw an episode of the Transformers cartoon series at a neighbor's house five years ago," Chen Dahai, the boy's father, told China Daily yesterday.

"I really regret allowing him to watch it he used to be a smart and good-tempered boy," said Chen, who lives in Yibin, Sichuan province.
The Transformers movies and cartoon series involve fictional alien characters that can morph from vehicles and weapons into fighting machines.

"Since my son started to drink gas, his IQ has dropped sharply and he cannot figure out simple math questions," the father said.

"He was a very smart boy, and could even repair the TV. Now he doesn't know seven plus 17."

The boy began by stealing lighters from his mother's grocery stall in 2004.
The parents talked to their son and asked him not to do it again.
"But afterwards we found our motorcycle's gasoline always disappearing, and one day when we found the boy drinking a half bottle of gasoline stolen from the motorcycle, we were too shocked to say anything," the father said.

After they locked the motorcycle in the living room, the obsessed boy stole gasoline from neighbors.
"He has had an explosive temper and even quit school because he fought with classmates."

The worried parents finally took their son to the city's hospital, and were told the boy had mental disorders and a strong "gasoline dependence."
"Gasoline contains a lot of lead, which can do harm to people's brains and influence their IQ," Peng Houquan, a doctor from Yibin No 4 Hosptial, told China Daily yesterday.

"We will invite some experienced experts to help the boy get rid of the gasoline addiction, and provide psychological treatment, " Peng said.
"It might be possible that the boy's 'gasoline dependence' started from imitating a movie," he said.

However, he could not explain why tests showed no lead in the boy's blood and no damage to the boy's throat or nose.

As of Saturday, the Hollywood blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had earned 400 million yuan ($58 million) in China, 19 days after its release on June 24, breaking the record set by Titanic 10 years ago.
Xinhua contributed to the story

China Daily 07/21/2009

It seems your assumption was correct Phungushead. There are some pieces of this story missing, or it is over exaggerated. See bold font above.

[missparkles]

He was stupid to begin with. The parents are setting up a compensation claim.

[chinpokomaster]

Soon the chinese government will be forcing kids to drink the stuff to help their economy.

[shanesmith7]

wait! wait! wait!....? The iranians at the gas station never told me to NOT do this Oh god!

[EscapeDummy]

I don't feel bad for the kid at all, if the story is accurate. It's his own damn fault for drinking gasoline. What an idiot.

[cra$h]

haha, no wonder he couldn't do math, he was fuckin drunk all the time! The parents should be sentanced to death by gasoline. If your kid's drinking something TOXIC, I could understand it being a one time thing, but if it's a daily occurance, and they even knew how much he was drinking, then it's time to step in and call the kid a fuckin retard

[missparkles]

Pardon me for being so skeptical but I gotta go with Phungushead on this one. Something definitely doesn't add up. If I were more suspicious I'd say this is the warm up for a compensation claim against the oil company.
The parents feigned ignorance, the permanent damage to a "developing" brain. A parent would notice the changes immediately and do something straight away. Why wait this long?
It sound well dodgy to me.
But then Sparkles has an untrusting nature...all the drugs she supposes.

[anonuser30500]

The parents should be arrested for negligence at the very least - possibly other serious charges if this child has some long term damage.

Stealing lighters, no parent could second guess the child was drinking the gasoline - but when they found him drinking gasoline from the motorcycle, any parent with an ounce worth of common sense would run to the nearest hospital, not become (in their own words) "speechless.

No doctor in any big hospital would be surprised if a 14 yr old was addicted to gasoline, or a dozen or more other toxic substances which get you high.

The parents failed in their duty big time.

I would have literally car-jacked someone to get my younger relatives to hospital if they drank petrol.

PS - one of my uncles jumped out his bedroom window to be like Superman.

Daft sod!

[chinpokomaster]

Reckon he'd win in a fight against Rubberduckzilla (for people who don't like petrol)?

[hamsterdam]

What the fuck?

Gasoline is some SERIOUSLY corrosive shit. Just inhaling the vapors directly will burn like a bitch (unfortunately i found out the hard way... i was refilling a lawnmower one time and wasn't being too careful, and got a good whiff of gasoline vapors.. It knocked me back for a second and it HURT.. no freakin idea how people huff this shit).

I'm inclined to say the article is bogus, drinking gasoline would probably kill you very quickly.

[cannabis-sam]

Maybe this is some bad journalism, I do find it very hard to believe someone sustained a petrol habit for so long. But the impression I got from the article is that the boy did not start on the petrol, but on solvents, as mentioned in the article in 2004 he was caught stealing lighters to inhale the gas. So that is, I believe where the five year figure came from, it wasn't until he was caught drinking the petrol that this was reported so, this doesn't nessessarily mean he was constantly abusing petrol for five years.

Either that or it's complete bullshit.

At least the kid wasn't dumb enough to try smoking it.

Reputation Comments on this post:

haha good point you made there, and made me laugh

[Frond]

Meh, this just seems to be propaganda aimed at subduing public outcry over what I expect soon enough will be a ban on the Transformers cartoons or the movies.

[shhpongebob]

i assume people cut gasoline before huffing. or maybe taking small little breaths from a distance above the container? i have no idea, where im from people tend to be addicted to drugs, not explosives.

another thing, hmm, im pretty skeptical of this article too, does it come from china? hmm, prehaps it could be a news outlet or the family or whoever trying to cast shadows on the transformer movie. though it kinda comes off as the kid and parents being stupid instead.

one thing phungushead brought up, the bottles of gas in china for motercycle/scooters (which are very very popular in the parts of asia i have been to, which is really just bali indonesia) are just the size of bottles and are made of glass. one roadside vendor was selling petrol out of absolute vodka cans. (and smoking a ciggarete as she worked!)

[bcubed]

I would like to point out...it is not entirely impossible that the parents DID THIS to the kid--or at least encouraged it--in hopes of making money off of a lawsuit. (I'm not necessarily saying that's what happened, but it is within the realm of possibility...)

[cra$h]

why? because there's not a sign on gas pumps that say "do not drink"? Damn, what's this country comming to? Next thing you know swim'll buy some tylenol that says "do not inject", or hell, he'll buy drugs that say do not operate heavy machinery while under the influence.

[Phungushead]

@bcubed - Crossed my mind as well. And sadly, in a way, it would not
surprise me if this turned out to be the case. I just really don't see anyone
in their right mind, no matter what their IQ, drinking something as foul as
gasoline willingly. The parents raise my suspicions enough just for the sole
fact that they waited so long to do anything about it in the first place. Its
amazing what greed will drive you to do. If that's the case, then that is
just sick. This article's actually been kinda bugging me on an ethical
standpoint... it will be interesting to see if any developments come forward
on this.

@cra$h - Haha, it's pretty sad when you think about all those stupid
warning labels ("Do not iron clothes when wearing them", "Product will be
hot after heating", "Warning: knives are sharp", etc) on random products
these days.

What's even sadder is that there probably a reason for all of them.

[Potter]

Wait, I watched a lot of Transformers as a kid, and I don't remember them ONCE using gasoline. They had these "energy cubes" they would drink that came out of one of the robots, but it was in no way related to gasoline. Were there any transforming robot shows that did use gasoline? I would gamble that the decision not to use gas in the show was a conscious decision by the writers to avoid exactly this.

It should also be noted that Chinese "news papers" also run stories about kids crying rubies and half-human half-pig babies. Asian papers are not exactly known for their journalistic integrity.

[dyingtomorrow]

Originally Posted by Potter

Wait, I watched a lot of Transformers as a kid, and I don't remember them ONCE using gasoline. They had these "energy cubes" they would drink that came out of one of the robots, but it was in no way related to gasoline. Were there any transforming robot shows that did use gasoline? I would gamble that the decision not to use gas in the show was a conscious decision by the writers to avoid exactly this.

It should also be noted that Chinese "news papers" also run stories about kids crying rubies and half-human half-pig babies. Asian papers are not exactly known for their journalistic integrity.

Excellent point. They "ate" "energon cubes" from what I remember. Which also would probably be highly poisonous, if they existed.

[cra$h]

but the transformers are often gas-consuming vehicles, and if the jet plane they replicate uses fuel, well, you get the idea I'm having a hard time wording it right