Teens Dying from the Choking Game
Dee Hodges begins, "This is actually the first time I've been out here since he died."

It's a place that 11-year old Trevor Hodges loved..his grandparents sandpit in west Wichita.

Trevor won't be coming back.

"Just quiet... Just quiet.. He's not coming up to me saying, 'Dad look at this..dad look at that or..just quiet.'"

Dee Hodges' son died six weeks ago. The sixth grader loved life..baseball, fishing, soccer, spending long summer days at the sandpit, and being with his sister.

Trevor would still be here, say his parents, had it not been for the so called choking game..a new fad with kids

"I said Trevor and still no answer and then I looked around the corner and seen his legs sticking out of the closet."

Dee Hodges found his son in a bedroom closet...Necktie around his neck...

"I looked up at him ..seen him hanging there and knew something terrible had happened."

Trevor....a good student...A happy boy..most likely heard about the chocking game at school.

"He did mention to his grandmother three weeks earlier that he knew how to make himself pass out and she didnt think anything about it..it was just sorta something he said in passing."

Kids call it the blackout game, the passout game , flatlining or space monkey. Kids choke themselves , depriving their bodies of oxygen to the point of passing out..its all for the high they get..but its leaving some kids dead. Partly because these days kids have taken it one step further. They aren't only playing the game with friends now...and they aren't only using their hands. They are alone at times and now using things like ropes and ties.

"I want people to know and understand that when they do this you are litterly one foot out of dying.. it is not a game."

Students at Maize Middle School where Trevor attended agree ....but they all say kids talk about the fad and how how its done.

Sixth grader Kristin Ralph says' "He'd tie a rope around his neck and then hed like squeeze and lean forward and suck in air."

"They say its really fun and that you can go really popular if you do it. What do you think about it. Thats really dumb."

The Maize school disctrict is so concerned ...It added the choking game explainer to this pamphlet warning parents of dangerous activities

Maize Counselor Nancy Bauck says "because it's happening and we had a very tragic accident and we want to communicate with parents."

Parent Jody Ralph says, "I was surprised ...I was shocked. I had never heard of a game like this. Kids need to know that its not just a game. It can take your life ...It's serious."

Maize is not alone,,....Goddard schools just added choking game warnings to its website after hearing rumors of the game being played at so called "pass out parties.". And Wichita school officials tell KAKE they have already heard about two choking games incidents this year... Neither ended in death.

Dee hodges says they were lucky

"I picked him up and tried to untie the knot by hand but it was just too tight. We got to the hospital, i got him in there...Just placed him on the bed and walked out. Finally the doctors came in and told us what had happened and that's when I lost it."

Trevor is with his grandpa and his favorite aunt in heaven says his family. But his father wanted to go thru the pain of of telling his sons story so that even in death his son can shine a light on dark trend ..and possibly save a young persons life.

"So I just want people to know the kids and parents ..they call it the pass out game..and it's not a game.. what I seen that day is not a game at all."