Dad of 11-Year-Old Who Died Playing the ‘Choking Game’ Warns About its Dangers

The father of a young US middle-school football player who died after playing the ‘choking game’ has warned other parents about the dangers of the game.

Dad, Garett Pope Snr has told of his heartache after his 11-year-old son, Garett Jr, died after cutting off his airways by doing the ‘choking game’. He explained that his son, who was a sixth-grade student from India Land, South Carolina in the US, probably learned the game from his classmates.

“Please know that his senseless death was not intentional. He took this terrible “game” too far,” he said.

The ‘choking game’ refers to intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain with the goal of inducing temporary euphoria and has seen young people uploading videos on social media of themselves being choked.

The Lancaster County coroner’s officers reached a verdict of accidental death, which had happened while Garret Jr was restricting his airways as part of the ‘game’.

However, Garett Snr said he didn’t know where his oldest son got the idea of playing the ‘game’. “We do not know where Garett learned this, but the logical source would be from other kids in school, or in our neighborhood,” he said.

Now, he has advised other parents of the dangers of the game.

“My family has never felt pain like this before, and we don’t anyone else to go through what we are going through. Please talk about this with your kids, and do everything you can to prevent a similar tragedy,” he said.

He also said that he already spoke to the principal about making sure that teachers are aware of this ‘game’.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk