An Extraordinary Experiment: What Happened to the Teen Who Stayed Awake for 11 Days?
What happened to the 17-year-old who decided to test how long a person can stay awake in the 1960s?
When Randy Gardner, a 17-year-old from San Diego, California, decided to conduct this experiment, he had no idea of its far-reaching consequences. Randy set out to test how long a person could stay awake without sleep. While his goal was to participate in a school science competition, his experiment eventually drew international attention.
His experiment began on December 28, 1963.
His good friend Bruce McAllister was by his side, volunteering to document the findings.
Later, a military researcher named Dr. William Dement, a Stanford University expert in sleep research, joined their experiment.
"At first, Randy felt alert and energetic," his friend Bruce recalled. But as the days passed, he began to show clear, if not alarming, symptoms of sleep deprivation.
"On the second day of the experiment, Randy started losing concentration and forgetting words. By the third day, he struggled to hold objects, and experienced extreme mood swings. By the fourth day, he began having hallucinations, cognitive confusion, and difficulties recognizing simple objects like a cup or a fork," described Dr. Dement, noting the symptoms were identical to those of a drunken person, "only without the alcohol."
Throughout the experiment, Randy underwent cognitive tests and medical observations to ensure no severe or permanent damage occurred.
The experiment concluded after 264 hours, or 11 straight days without sleep. What happened afterward? Randy slept for 14 hours and 46 minutes continuously on the first day after the experiment. The second day, he slept 10 and a half hours, then gradually returned to his regular sleep pattern.
But what happened decades later, in 2017? Gardner reported he began experiencing serious insomnia that started ten years earlier, in 2007, and believed his participation in the 1960s sleep study was the cause.
Are there others who have conducted this experiment? Reports mention Toimi Sillampaa from Finland, who broke Randy's record by staying awake for 276 hours, and Maureen Weston from England, who remained awake for 449 hours—the highest recorded so far.
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Randy Gardner's experiment is still considered one of the first detailed documentations of the effects of extreme sleep deprivation on the human body. It provoked wide discussion in the science and medical communities and led to stricter regulations on future sleep-related experiments.
Although there is no evidence of permanent damage to Randy, experts warn today that chronic lack of sleep can cause serious harm to the brain, immune system, and heart. Randy himself became a legendary figure in sleep research but later declared he wouldn't recommend anyone try what he did.
His case highlights how sleep is not a luxury but a basic human necessity for normal functioning.
