Randy Gardner set the Guinness record for the longest time a human being has ever stayed awake. In 1965, as a 17-year-old college student, Gardner stayed awake for 264 hours with the help of two friends who took turns keeping him awake, pinball games and a growing number of television reporters. As the hours passed he began hallucinating, his ability to focus visually failed, his memory failed, his speech slurred, and he fell into a silent stupor. Afterwards he slept for 15 hours and woke up mostly recovered.
"I wanted to prove that bad things didn't happen if you went without sleep," said Gardner, now 56, retired and still in San Diego, US. "I thought, 'I can break that (Peter Tripp's 1959) record and I don't think it would be a negative experience.'" Sleep experts now conclude that such sleepless stints are dangerous.
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