13 Head-Shaking Stories Of People Who Have Already Injured Themselves Playing ‘Pokemon Go’


When Pokemon Go first came out I said two things would happen: (1) people would do something stupid while playing it and (2) people would get injured just like they do when taking selfies.

We’ve already seen #1 on the list happen and of course, #2 is also not in short supply as people are getting hurt left and right while chasing down those elusive fictional characters.

So while people are actually getting exercise while playing the game, naturally they aren’t paying attention to their surroundings apparently because, you know, gotta catch ’em all and whatnot.

Here are a couple of examples courtesy of the AP

Mike Schultz, a 21-year-old communications graduate on Long Island, New York, took a spill on his skateboard as he stared at his phone while cruising for critters early Thursday. He cut his hand on the sidewalk after hitting a big crack, and blames himself for going too slowly.

“I just wanted to be able to stop quickly if there were any Pokemons nearby to catch,” he says. “I don’t think the company is really at fault.”

Meanwhile…

Kyrie Tompkins, a 22-year-old freelance web designer, fell on the sidewalk and twisted her ankle while wandering in downtown Waterville, Maine, on Thursday night.

“It vibrated to let me know there was something nearby and I looked up and just fell in a hole,” she says. Her parents had to drive her and her fiancé home.

Stories of Pokemon Go-related injuries also abound on Twitter…

And of course, Reddit’s “Today I Fucked Up” and Pokemon Go threads are also littered with stories…

Not even 30 minutes after the release last night, I slipped and fell down a ditch. Fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in my foot, 6-8 weeks for recovery. I told all the doctors I was walking my dog lol… Watch where you’re going, folks! ~ Amalthea-

So a few hours ago I downloaded Pokemon GO (I live in New Zealand) and enjoyed walking around my city collecting items from Pokestops/ capturing Pokemon etcetera, before going home. Around half an hour ago I decided to leave my house and skate around my suburb to see if I could catch any interesting Pokemon, or gain some cool items. About 5 minutes into skating slowly down the footpath my board is blocked by an uneven surface and I go flying across it with my phone. More worried about making a painful landing, I let go off my phone and try to cushion the landing with my hands, but because my reaction time is just as fast as a sloths my face planted the same time my hands reached the pavement. My phone was also thrown directly into the ground, which cracked the screen. Now i’m at home typing this up from my laptop because my phone won’t do what I want it to do.

TL;DR – Wanted to catch ’em all, ended up catching my fall (Sorta), oh, and breaking my phone. ~ Porosareus

So this happened about 20 minutes ago and I’m still shocked at my stupidity. I just downloaded Pokemon Go and decided it would be a good idea to smoke a bowl then go bike around my neighborhood looking for Pokemon. On my way back I coasted down a little hill and pulled out my phone to check if I was getting closer to any Pokemon. When it opened up I saw that I was right next to a squirtle and panicked. I frantically tapped the screen with my right hand and squeezed the brake with my left sending me flying over the handle bars onto the road. My shoe flew off as I tumbled forward and the bike chain fell off as it slammed on top of me. As I was laying in the road a car came up behind me so I had to get up grab my phone, my shoe, and my bike and drag it to the side of the road feeling like dumbass. I ended up cutting my leg, ripped open an old scab, and now I have a big ass lump on my ankle.

Aftermath: http://imgur.com/qoX36av http://imgur.com/u1FXlih ~ loganv870

This all started today on my way to work. I headed out early to try and catch a growlithe on my way, as a friend of mine told me about this path where he had seen him nearby several times.

On my way I met a few pidgeys, and decided to take them all. This is where I fucked up. While trying to catch one of the pidgeys, there was a turn to the right. I didn’t even think about it, and turned right. What I didn’t quite foresee, was some loose gravel on the the road. So as I came out of the turn, my wheel slipped and my wheel turned out the other way. You might think at this point, with my phone in one hand, slightly distracted and an awkward grip on the handlebars with my left hand, that this is where I was thrown off. Well, you’d be wrong.

I actually managed to stay on my bike, but now I was turning left fast. I turned out of the sidewalk and into the road, and I knew if I hit the curb on the other side I’d be fucked. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t correct my balance. Dropping my phone to correct the course was not an option, so I had to be clever. Straight before I hit the curb I came up with the genius idea to jump of my bike at the same time as I hit the curb, and land on my feet on the sidewalk. I prepared to jump, my wheel hit, and it was going brilliantly. Except I didn’t land on the sidewalk.

The sidewalk was perhaps 1,5 meters wide, and on the other side was a steep hill leading to someone’s garden. So I flew over the sidewalk and dived down the hill, landing on my shoulder. And ended up sliding down to the bottom of the hill.

Luckily no one was around to witness my monumental fuck up. So I got up, caught said pidgey and dashed as quickly as possible. Luckily I got of with only a scratched up shoulder, and a sore ankle. My bike and phone(with pidgey) was fine, but my pride took a decent hit. ~ Torostein

So last night me and my friend were out until 2am playing Pokemon go, walking through random streets finding Pokemon. So we see a cat(in real life not a meowth) and we approach it because earlier in the night we saw a lost cat sign and wanted to know if it was the same one. we Approached it and didn’t realise before it was too late it was a skunk. It stuck it’s tail up and now I’m in a tomato bath. Be aware of your surroundings when playing Pokemon go. ~ mikefromto

That might be the worst one of all.

So, yeah, be careful out there, folks! Or not. We do love reading about your failures.

H/T People, AP

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Before settling down at BroBible, Douglas Charles, a graduate of the University of Iowa (Go Hawks), owned and operated a wide assortment of websites. He is also one of the few White Sox fans out there and thinks Michael Jordan is, hands down, the GOAT.