I lost my nephew

[historykelly]

I lost my 13 year old nephew on October 14, 2011. His death was the result of a silly stunt gone horribly wrong. Zach died playing the choking game. His story is not new. www.gaspinfo.com. I miss him terribly. He is my brother's oldest son and they were so close. My brother is utterly devastated.

It is so important that people are made aware of this dangerous activity. If my brother and sister-in-law had heard of this 'game' earlier, their son would still be with us. They spoke to him about drugs, alcohol, smoking, suicide but they had never heard of this activity. The choking game is quite common among kids aged 9-14.

It's still hard to believe that he is gone. It's been two months. Time moves slowly and quickly at the same time. It's quite surreal.

I can only move forward from this tragedy and try to prevent it from happening again. Please, talk to you kids about this. They don't fully realize what the consequences are and why the get a 'high' from choking themselves. They're killing brain cells and this causes the high. This is an activity that these kids are using in place of drugs and alcohol. Brain damage and death can occur within minutes.

Help educate kids about the truth of this 'game'. Kids need to hear the truth, not be sheltered from it.

We are facing our first Christmas without Zach. It seems like an impossibility but it's coming. We'll get through it.

Thanks for reading. www.gaspinfo.com

[ModKonnie]

I lost my 13 year old nephew on October 14, 2011. His death was the result of a silly stunt gone horribly wrong. Zach died playing the choking game. His story is not new. www.gaspinfo.com. I miss him terribly. He is my brother's oldest son and they were so close. My brother is utterly devastated.

It is so important that people are made aware of this dangerous activity. If my brother and sister-in-law had heard of this 'game' earlier, their son would still be with us. They spoke to him about drugs, alcohol, smoking, suicide but they had never heard of this activity. The choking game is quite common among kids aged 9-14.

It's still hard to believe that he is gone. It's been two months. Time moves slowly and quickly at the same time. It's quite surreal.

I can only move forward from this tragedy and try to prevent it from happening again. Please, talk to you kids about this. They don't fully realize what the consequences are and why the get a 'high' from choking themselves. They're killing brain cells and this causes the high. This is an activity that these kids are using in place of drugs and alcohol. Brain damage and death can occur within minutes.

Help educate kids about the truth of this 'game'. Kids need to hear the truth, not be sheltered from it.

We are facing our first Christmas without Zach. It seems like an impossibility but it's coming. We'll get through it.

Thanks for reading. www.gaspinfo.com

Kelleo,

I am so very sorry about the loss of your nephew. I can remember "playing" the choking game when I was a teen. And, the worst part of it was, we did it in front of a teacher, and he did nothing about it but laugh because he thought people were playing around.

I will be thinking about your family this holiday season. You will get through it. My heart goes out to all of you,

ModKonnie