'Choking Game' Continues To Attract, Kill Children

The choking game, which is also called rising sun, suffocation roulette and space monkey, kills nearly 1,000 children a year, according to the report.

The game, which is usually attempted by children 10 to 16 years old, cuts oxygen to the brain for a brief high or euphoric state. The pressure on the arteries is then released and blood flow to the brain resumes, causing a "rush" as consciousness returns.

"They don't know how close to the edge they are," Orange County Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Marie Hansen said. "When oxygen doesn't get to your brain, you have a matter of seconds before you pass out and a matter of minutes before you're dead."

Trina Alcott said she is haunted by the day she discovered her 13-year-old son Kodee's lifeless body hanging from a rope in their New Jersey basement.

Alcott's pain over the loss of her son from the choking game inspired her to bring her son's story to Central Florida, Local 6 News reported.

Camden County detectives said Kodee used a bicycle frame to add distance between the rope and the floor during the game that killed him on March 31.

"It's not a game, it's death," Alcott said.

Alcott had never heard of the choking game and did not recognize the warning signs.

"I don't care how many people say, 'I know how you feel,'" Alcott said. "They don't know how you feel. Unless you lost your child you have no idea. For people to say, 'You'll get over it,' you will not get over it. I'm sure Kodee didn't know that what he did was going to kill him."

Local 6 News reported that Bjorn Tayor, 9, died while playing the choking game last summer in Melbourne, Fla.

His father, Harold Taylor, found him hanging from a belt tied to his bunk bed.

"When he was on the floor, I held him down and I was trying to resuscitate him," Taylor said. "I tried to revive him."

Hansen said children who try the choking game get a brief high.

"The rush here is not adrenaline," Hansen said. "The rush is from the oxygen leaving your brain and your body is crying out for oxygen."

Local 6 News reported that there are warning signs that children may be trying the game, including marks or bruises on the throat, frequent severe headaches and redness in the eyes.

Also, experts said to be on the lookout for belts, ropes or shoelaces tied in strange knots or found in unusual places.

"Once you get the feeling of the rush, a certain percentage of kids will get addicted to the rush," Hansen said.

Local 6 News said children often begin to try the game in groups and then alone.

For more information about the signs your child may be playing the choking game, please Stopthechokinggame.com.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

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