David Thompson 5/22/1987 – 12/10/06
David Thompson Senior Picture
The Thompsons know how risky the game can be after losing their son David, 19, in December.
“Some people described him as funny and crazy,” Angela Thompson said. “I saw him as the big, strong, quiet type.” David was one of the good kids. He graduated from Heard County High School last year where he lettered all four years in wrestling and football.
He was a defensive lineman, one of the coach’s favorites.
“David Thompson was one of those kids who showed up, worked hard everyday and made you very proud,” Coach Tim Barron said.
He was an active member of the youth group at North Point Baptist Church, where he shared his plans for the future with his pastor.
“He had felt like the Lord called him to be in the ministry, and he had actually just enrolled in a Christian college,” said Pastor Rodney Agan.
He had so much to look forward to at the age of 19 but risked it all when he decided to play the Choking Game one afternoon in December.
“And if he was sitting here right now, he would tell you, `I made a foolish decision. Don’t do this,’” Mike Thompson said.
Mike Thompson was the one who discovered his son’s body.
According to a report by the Heard County Sheriff’s Department, David locked himself in his bedroom, put a nylon strap around his necked and wrapped it once around part of a shoe rack on his closet door.
David's Football Picture
“It hadn’t been no more than ten minutes since I spoke to him,” Mike said. “And I thought if I could get a pulse, the EMTs were on their way, then maybe we could bring him back.”
The coroner ruled David’s death an accident.
According to his death certificate, he was fatally injured while playing the Choking Game.
“This game seems to be played mostly by [those] who we term as the good kids, those kids who don’t do alcohol or don’t take drugs,” Angela Thompson said.
Boys and girls as young as 9-years-old play the Choking Game to get a drug-free high.
In small groups or on their own, they choke themselves to the brink of unconsciousness so they can feel a rush as oxygen flows back to the brain.
“I had no idea that David was ever exposed to this game and the curiosity I guess of the game,” Mike Thompson said.
In David’s case, investigators found several safety features he used to make sure he would not die, but all of them failed. “We’ve just got to get the word out that kids are playing this awful game,” Mike Thompson said.
“We don’t want this to happen to another family,” Angela Thompson added.
The Thompsons said there were no warning signs, and the coroner found no physical evidence that David had played the game before.
It’s such a risky game, the first time may be the last.
Brandon Wroe R.I.P. 01/06/09
Brandon Wroe - age 12
“Good night, Daddy, I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow” was the last thing I heard my son say. Hello, my name is Randy Wilson. Brandon is my son who tried what is called a game, the choking game. My son Brandon was a very smart 12 year old who loved life and already had his life planned out. Brandon was already enrolled in college at West Georgia College, in Carrolton, GA for the early college program. At the time my son would have graduated he would have had two years of college already complete. But on January 6, 2009 I awoke to the worst nightmare of my life. All I heard was my wife screaming from my son’s bedroom. As I ran into Brandon’s bedroom I saw my son dead in front of his closet. As I tried with all my might there was nothing I could do to help my son out of that situation. At the funeral one little girl said that he was dared to play “the choking game” or “flatliner”. My wife Tracy asked her what she was talking about. The girl began to explain what the “game” was. This is the reason why S.A.F.E. got started. Our mission is to educate the public about the dangers of this game and not to see any other parents go through what we are going through.