SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (WSVN) — A Utah mother is now in mourning after she said her 12-year-old son died while playing the “fainting game.”
According to KSTU, 12-year-old Tua Muai was playing with his friends on Friday when his mother found him unconscious and called 911. Moments before she found him, Tua had reportedly been playing the fainting game, also known as the choking game, with his friends.
[protected-iframe id=”0c401036bddc1448e471d492ad8276c8-110336915-104619624″ info=”//z.cdn.turner.com/cnn/van/resources/2.1/scripts/van-widgets.js” ]
The objective of the game is to cut off oxygen to the brain in order to get a high or a rush.
Tua was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.
“He was just playing a game and he didn’t think things through,” Celestia Muai, Tua’s mother, said. “I spent Mother’s Day planning my son’s funeral, writing his obituary, instead of having breakfast or flowers or I love you mom.”
Despite her sadness, Tua’s mother hopes to warn others about the dangers of the game.
“There’s nothing that can take the pain away but if it can save one child one parent one family…. then it will make more sense,” Muai told KSTU.
The game has been around for over two decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 82 children between the ages of 6 and 19 died between 1995 and 2007 while playing the game.
Tua’s family have set up a YouCaring page to help raise money for his funeral. To donate, click here.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.