Couple fights 'choking game' tragedy

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) -- A dangerous thrill-seeking practice commonly
called "the choking game" is claiming hundreds of teenage lives as it
crosses the line from dangerous to deadly.

No one knows how many children die from practicing this "game," which
goes by many other names such as tingling, pass out, suffocation
roulette, funky choken, airplaning, blackout and rising sun, because
there is no subcode for it on death certificates. Accidental deaths from
the choking game often are ruled suicide. Statistics, such as they are,
come from media reports and the shared sorrows of suddenly bereft
parents who find each other.

The choking game restricts oxygen by strangulation, either
self-administered or by another participant, until the player passes
out. As the player regains consciousness he or she experiences a
dizzying "high."