Maple Grove teen's death prompts warning about 'choking game'

Written by

Boyd Huppert

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. -- A 13-year-old Maple Grove girl will be laid to rest Tuesday, a victim - her parents believe - of the so-called "choking game."

Paige Klick died on Friday, after her parents made the decision to disconnect life support.

"I talked to her about drugs, I talked to her about alcohol, but I never talked to her about choking herself to get high. I've never even heard of it," said Wade Klick, Paige's father.

On Monday, May 23rd, Paige was in her room when her father went to summon her for dinner. Upon walking in the room, "I saw her hanging and she was blue."

Paige had a scarf knotted around her neck and draped over a clothes bar in her closet. "I think she's been doing this for a while now," said Wade.

Her parents believe she hanged herself accidently, while engaged in the choking game played by adolescents seeking a high by cutting off oxygen to their brains.

"They're your classic good kids that don't want to do drugs and alcohol," said Deb Klick, Paige's mother.

Paige's parents wish they'd have recognized the signs: Paige's recent headaches, a drop in her once stellar grades, occasional thumping noises coming from her upstairs bedroom and the knotted robe belts they'd seen on her bedroom floor.

"I think at 13 you're vulnerable," said her dad. "You experiment and I think that's what happened."

Paige's death was originally investigated as a suicide, but few signs pointed to that. She was looking forward to summer, having picked out a new swimming suit earlier in the day. She had also just reached her goal of making the Osseo Middle School cheerleading squad.

Earlier this month the Robbinsdale School District sent a note to parents warning them about the choking game.

In Paige's obituary her parents included an address to the G.A.S.P. website that raises awareness of the choking game.

They printed bookmarks for the wake and funeral with the warning signs.

"She was awesome and for it to happen to her, it can happen to anybody's kid and I don't want anyone to go through what we're going through right now," said Wade.

Paige's parents hope some good can come of their daughter's death through education. They are already taking solace in the lives Paige has saved through organ donation.