The Daily Reporter from Greenfield, Indiana • Page 45

Local news 12 Friday, August 18, 2006 Cumberland Mt. Comfort Reporter Indiana School remembers Isaiah, warns of 'choking game' creating a momentary high. It becomes more dangerous wheh children attempt the stunt alone. If they lose consciousness, no one is around to remove the pressure and restore the oxygen flow. Without fresh blood entering the brain, death can occur in less than three minutes, according to the web site.

On the night of Isaiah's said. "Why would Attempts to revive the boy were unsuccessful? The who live in McCordsville, said their neighbors have rallied around them and provided the emotional and financial support the family needed to cope with their son's death. Neighbors have cooked meals for the family, mowed their lawn and contributed to funeral costs. "I didn't know many of the neighbors before this," Johnin Mitchell said. "But Isaiah did.

He would knock on their doors and ask to play with their kids." Isaiah was a promising athlete -excelling in soccer, basketball and football. His parents dreamed he would play football at Notre Dame. Mt. Comfort staff remembered Isaiah as studious and outgoing. "He was in the library almost every day.iust reading," Librarian Kay Stommel said.

"He always had a smile." Stommel said she hopes Isaiah's death would not be in vain. "Hopefully, somehow, something good can come from it," she it can keep some- Kimberty Jahnke Staff writer Mt. Comfort Johnin Mitchell remembers his youngest son as someone who embraced life and the people around him. "Isaiah never had a stranger," he said. "I used to see him hugging people he didn't know and he'd come back and say, 'Dad I just made some new Isaiah Mitchell, a popular old who was to enter fourth-grade at M.t.

Comfort Elementary School, died accidentally Aug. 3. His parents suspect he was attempting a dare commonly called "the choking game," in which people achieve a high by cutting off oxygen supply to the brain. MCES students and teachers honored Isaiah Mitchell at an afternoon memorial service Wednesday. Aug.

16. Isaiah was a popular, fun-loving kid, his parents said. "He always made good grades, he had a lot of friends," Johnin Mitchell said. Isaiah's mother. Brenda Isaiah Kimberty Jahnke Cumberiand-Mt.

Comfort Reporter Mt. Comfort Principal Phil Davis talks to students about the dangers of the choking game, which killed 9-year-old Isaiah Mitchell Aug. 3. Isaiah's parents, Johnin and Brenda Mitchell, are seated up front listening. death, Brenda Mitchell said she became concerned when the didn't return home by his dusk curfew.

She sent his older brother out searching for him. She drove around the neighborhood, too, before returning home to check the house once more. She found her son alone in a bedroom closet with a belt strapped around his neck. "I had looked everywhere in the house, but not the closets," she worker Kylee Hays. "There is a group of boys who were close to Isaiah.

They have each other, are able to support each other." Memorial contributions can be sent to Mt. Comfort Elementary School, 5694 W. 300 North, Greenfield. one else from making the same mistake." After the memorial service, many of Isaiah's friends, teammates and neighbors met with counselors to talk about their grief. "Everyone is dealing with it in a different way," said school social oking for a patient oriented Family Physician American Health Network of Indiana in Greenfield is very pleased to announce the addi-- tion of Dr.

Dennis Lawton, a Board Certified family physician with extensive experience caring for families from infants to seniors. Dr. Lawton and our practice can offer you, our patient a comprehensive menu of diagnostic imaging and laboratory Mitchell, and two of his brothers were home at the time of the accident. The boy was unaccounted for for less than an hour. "If this can happen to our kid, it could happen to anyone," Johnin Mitchell said.

The Mitchells have reluctantly stepped into the role of educators, openly discussing their son's death with parents and other children. "Because he had a lot of friends here, we thought it was important they knew what happened and don't follow the same track," Brenda Mitchell said. Speaking out hasn't eased the family's grief, they say. "We wake up every morning and we cry and we pray until we feel peace," Johnin Mitchell said. Mt.

Comfort Principal Phil Davis said he's glad the Mitchells agreed to address the students. "We are hearing more and more that kids are daring each other to (play the choking game), and at an even younger age," he said. "We want to get the message of safety across." According to a web site dedicated to informing parents about the activity, at least 55 youth deaths nationwide have been attributed to the game this year. Children play the choking game by pressing their hands or an object such as a belt or rope -against the back of the neck, cutting off oxygen flow to the brain. When the pressure is released, fclood rushes back into the brain.

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