Recently my daughters High School lost a child to this.

Blackout Game
Doctors Warn Parents About Potentially Devastating Outcome


CHICAGO -- The blackout game is a fainting game that some children are
playing, Unit 5's Dave Savini said, and it has led to brain damage and
even death.
Beware Of 'The Blackout Game'

It could be played with two people, Nicole Toms, 11, told Savini about
the game that she thinks killed her sister -- a game that
middle-school children are playing to get what they think is an
innocent, natural high. Toms and other family members told Savini the
asphyxiation game goes by many names -- suffocation roulette, the
fainting game, space monkey, blackout, the pass-out game and
flatliner, among them. We won't demonstrate how they do it, but kids
are putting pressure on a major artery until they pass out, supposedly
to achieve a sense of euphoria, Savini said. Toms' sister, Jennifer
Cernekee, 14, died in 2001, and the girls' parents blame the blackout
game, Savini said. If we can get the word out and save one child's
life..., Mark Cernekee, Jennifer's father, told Savini. This is a
dangerous game, Jennifer's mother, Mary Jane Toms, said. Kids are
getting hurt ... There have been more deaths since my daughter's
death. Jennifer's mother found her on a chair, with a sheet tied to a
shelving unit that was supposed to release when she passed out. But it
got caught, Savini said, and Jennifer was strangled. Tommy Fortin, 11,
also died playing the game, Savini said. He used a dog leash.

Dr. Thomas Andrew, a pediatrician and state medical examiner from New
Hampshire, ruled Fortins' case accidental. Before learning about the
game, he told Savini, he had ruled similar deaths as suicides but then
later changed the death certificates. Well, the head rush is what is
sought by practitioners of the game, Andrew said. It is not
inconceivable for me that some teen suicides or your suicides that are
labeled as such are in reality accidental deaths resulting from the
asphyxiation game. Some children suffer disabilities for life as a
result of their injuries.
Ashley Tucker, now 18, told Savini she has lingering learning
disabilities from playing the game when she was younger. Five years
ago, in Cary, Ill., Tucker was 13 and at a slumber party when she
played the blackout game. Her friend used her hands to make Tucker
faint, but Tucker ended up in a coma, spent months in rehabilitation,
and suffered seizures for two years. She has permanent brain damage.
They said it was permanent, Tucker said. I have special ed classes,
and I can't really do math basic stuff. A lot of kids think that
because they are not doing drugs, they are not drinking, that this is
okay, Mary Jane Toms told Savini. Please talk to your children about
this game. The coroner in Jennifer's case ruled her death a suicide,
but the investigating detective said he uncovered evidence pointing to
the blackout game as her cause of death. We also found fatal cases of
the blackout game in Canada, Europe and Japan, Savini said. A
Minnesota girl died last year. Savini said some warning signs that a
child is playing the dangerous game are unusual marks on the neck and
frequent headaches.