Eyes Wide Open: The Boy Who Stayed Awake For 11 Days

When 17-year-olds Randy Gardner & Bruce McAllister set out to compete in the 1963 San Diego science fair, little did they know they would end up breaking a world record for sleeplessness. Randy certainly didn’t expect to suffer debilitating consequences for decades after.

Lasting an incredible 264 hours, studied by classmates & researchers from Stanford University, Randy spent over 11 days awake, a stint just 4 hours longer than the previous record held by DJ Tom Rounds. Tom spent his entire experiment on display in a department store window!

Sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on the body. After just 24 hours without sleep, the ability to metabolise glucose is impaired causing blood sugar fluctuations, a rise in stress hormone production & renal damage. Cognitive functions are affected & core temperature begins to drop.

Unmedicated patients with mania report long periods of sleeplessness. Soldiers in battle, shift workers & front-line staff may be chronically sleep deprived. Insufficient duration of sleep leads to fatigue, confusion & drowsy driving which may occur in 1 in 25 drivers.

What are the lasting effects of 11 days without sleep? Any lapse in regular sleep can affect perception, motivation & concentration. Almost 50 years later, Randy reports years of irritable mood & severe insomnia which he called a kind of karmic payback for the somnolent stunt.

In 2012, a Chinese man died after attempting to watch every game of the entire European Championships. Due to the time difference the man, who was 26 & of good health prior to the football marathon, stayed up drinking & watching the sport before going to work in his office.

Sleep science is impossible to study outside the lab due to microsleep, a brief lapse in consciousness characterised by unresponsiveness to stimuli which may occur without the participant even realising. Subsequent attempts to break Randy’s record are not confirmed.  

Regular bouts of sleeplessness, even just one day a week, can lead to depression, obesity, cardiac problems. Due to updated policies in health protection, the Guinness Book of World Records no longer list voluntary prolonged wakefulness as a challenge.

Did the ambitious project win the San Diego science fair? Records are sketchy. It certainly won the attention of the media, & sleep scientists still focus on Randy even after all this time to study the lasting consequences of 11 days sans slumber on the brain and body.

Randy's story is fascinating, but sleep is essential for health, muscle growth & brain development. It provides much needed rest, fuels the wakeful hours & keeps the body performing.

The Dalai Lama said sleep is the best meditation. 11 days without a nap is 10 days too long!