11 Sleepless Days - Not a Problem

A British sleep researcher has broken the world record of staying awake. He lived through 11 sleepless days, supported not only by his strong will, but helped by fruits, salads, nuts and his relatives, who kept talking and entertaining the record holder.

After having spent 15 years researching sleep, Tony Wright, 42, started his record in a bar in his native town Cornwall on May 14th at 6 AM and stayed awake during exactly 11 days.

This way he broke the record of 264 sleepless hours set by Randy Gardner, USA, in 1964. The Guinness Book, however, does not acknowledge any sleep deprivation records anymore, due to health risks, caused by sleeplessness.

After having the 11 sleepless days behind, Mr. Wright told BBC News that he felt rather good, though it was quite difficult making it.

During these 11 days the unofficial record holder shared that he noticed some speech problems, that at some point the words he wanted to say didn't sound the way they should have and that colors seemed to be very bright.

He mentioned, that the diet keeping him awake, helped the brain to remain functional and made it easier for him to switch from the tired part of the brain, to the fresh one. However, Mr. Wright confessed in the end that both parts of his brain were very tired, when the experiment ended.

The entire event was planned by the 42 year old Cornish to research how much sleep is required by different parts of the human brain.

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