夢遊致死亡

It’s rare, but experts say it’s definitely possible to die while sleepwalking.

這種事情雖然罕見，然而專家稱，夢遊死亡是完全有可能的。

“Of course it’s dangerous,” said Dr. Colin Shapiro, a University of Toronto professor and director of the Youthdale Child & Adolescent Sleep Clinic.

多倫多大學教授兼Youthdale兒童和青少年睡眠中心Colin Shapiro博士說，“當然，夢遊很危險。”

“People can essentially do anything,” he said. “They can walk in their sleep, they can talk in their sleep, they can eat in their sleep and they can drive their car in their sleep.”

“人們基本上可以做任何事情，”他說，“睡眠中可以走路、說話、吃飯、開車。”

And to fall and injure yourself, or die?

可能會跌倒、受傷或者死亡嗎？

“It’s definitely possible,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro說，“這是完全有可能的。”

The plausibility of such a demise has come up in the wake of Chris Hyndman’s death this week. The popular television personality was found dead in an alleyway next to the east end apartment where he lived with his on-screen partner and spouse, Steven Sabados. Hyndman’s mother told the Star she believes her son died in an “unfortunate accident” while sleepwalking.

本週Chris Hyndman死亡後，使得夢遊死亡似乎有理。這一炙手可熱的電視明星被發現死於緊鄰他與其熒屏搭檔和配偶（Steven Sabados）居住的倫敦東區公寓的一條街道上。Hyndman母親告訴《星報》，她認爲，兒子在夢遊時，死於一場“不幸的事故”。

Toronto Police repeated earlier statements on Thursday, with Const. Victor Kwong saying the investigation into Hyndman’s death is still open, but that no other information will be given because there is no suspicious or criminal element to the incident.

多倫多警局一再重複先前在週二所做的陳述，Const. Victor Kwong稱對Hyndman的死因仍在調查中，暫不做任何評論，因爲這場事件沒有牽涉到可疑或犯罪分子。

Though he’s never personally encountered a story of someone dying while sleepwalking, Sunnybrook Hospital sleep neurologist Brian Murray said such accidents have “undoubtedly occurred.” People have been known to fall from ledges or tumble down stairs, and there have been media reports from the U.S. and U.K. of sleepwalkers freezing to death after ambling outside in the winter.

Brian Murray是新寧醫院的一名睡眠神經學家，他表示，儘管他從未親眼見到有人在夢遊中死亡，然而，這樣的事件“確實發生了”。有人從窗臺上跌落，或摔下樓梯；美國和英國媒體報道，有夢遊者冬天在室外散步而凍死。

“We have lots of patients who have injured themselves and then come to us for treatment,” including people with spinal and head injuries, Murray said.

Murray說，“我們醫院有很多病人因此受傷，包括脊柱損傷和腦損傷，之後到我們這裏尋求治療。”

Murray said it’s not clear exactly how many adults repeatedly sleepwalk, because many people live with the tendency but never report it. The best estimate, he said, is “a few per cent” of the adult population would have episodes of sleepwalking, or somnambulation.

Murray說，現在還不清楚有多少成年人經常夢遊，因爲很多人有夢遊傾向，但還從未夢遊過。最佳估計是“很少量”的成年人將患有夢遊症。

譯文屬原創，未經允許，不得轉載。