Mother pleads for help to save 'zombie' son addicted to online gaming


A desperate mother has pleaded for help to save her ''zombie'' son after he became addicted to online gaming.

Lilybeth Marvel, 37, became concerned two years ago when her son Carlito Garcia, 13, began spending all night at the local internet cafe.

The teenager skipped school and would sit alone ''like a zombie'' playing his favourite battle royale game ''Rules of Survival.''

Massage therapist Lilybeth and her husband, a security guard also named Carlito, removed their son from school while trying to battle his addiction.

The concerned mother has now pleaded online for help. She filmed herself delivering breakfast to the boy after he refused to return home after a marathon 48-hour session.

Carlito was so engrossed in the computer game he would not even lift his eyes from the screen or take his hands from the keyboard - with Lilybeth having to feed him to ensure he actually ate the food.

Explaining why she brought breakfast from her home all the way to the computer shop, Lilybeth said: ''I used to just nag about his online games. But that didn't work. So I'm trying a different approach.

''I try to make him feel that whatever is happening in his life, I am his mother who loves him and takes care of him.''

Carlito, the oldest of three siblings, had turned into a virtual ''zombie'' since he became addicted to gaming some two years ago aged just 11, his mother added.

She said that trying to ban him had not worked - and he would find ways to sneak away to the internet cafe.

The footage was captured on February 18.