“It sounded like a sledge hammer hitting the ground,” said Josh Farrell after witnessing junior Blake Dana drop to his knees and fall head first into the pavement.
The “choking game”, also known as the “fainting game”, refers to intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain with the goal of inducing a temporary euphoria. There are two methods used to achieve this euphoric sensation; strangulation and self-induced hypocapnia.
This temporary feeling has the potential to cause moderate to severe brain cell death leading to permanent loss of neurological function ranging from difficulty in concentration or loss of short term memory capacity through severe, lifelong mental disability to death.
Before he had the chance to “tap out”, Dana fell unconscious after being choked by the hands of his friend who was practicing MMA styled choke holds on him during their Carpentry class.
“About three seconds in he was passed out. His friend asked him if he was okay and let go of him, and he just dropped to his knees and smacked his head right on the curb,” said senior David Gibson.
Although the origins of the game remain unknown, the popularity of the game continues to increase as more teens become interested in achieving a high without getting caught using drugs or alcohol.
According to Carpentry teacher Mr. Mackey, the two students snuck away from the class to the parking lot where they couldn’t be seen. Mackey stresses shop safety and refraining from horse play due to past injuries.
Even though the accident didn’t occur in the shop, he still plans to use this incident as a ‘what not to do story.’
“When he got in here his nose was bleeding and he had a big raspberry on his head. We cleaned him up and got him to the nurse pretty quick, and they ended up calling an ambulance to take him to the hospital,” said Mackey.“The students were exceptionally good about helping to get him down to the nurse quickly. Everybody did well as far as handling the situation appropriately.”
Dana was eventually flown to a hospital in Springfield, Missouri where more significant internal damage was found.
“I have two skull fractures and a major concussion. I also have oxygen in my brain right now. Eventually my brain will swell up and push it out,” said Dana. “I’m kind of disoriented and I’m really tired.”
Dana was released from the hospital four days after being admitted and vaguely remembers the incident outside of what witnesses have told him.
“I was still talking to everyone, but I wasn’t all there. It was just a really stupid mistake,” said Dana.
According to Dana, the two are friends and were just messing around. Although there was no malicious intent in the situation, his friend is being disciplined.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen someone do something dumb and it end up badly. We were really worried about him. He’s doing okay now,” said Mackey.
