In October of 2014, Kerri Workman discovered the lifeless body of her son inside the family’s Calgary home. An autopsy determined Bryce Eyjolfson’s death was the result of asphyxiation and the 11-year-old had been strangled by a rope he had placed around his neck.

The grieving mother learned of a horrific game that Calgary kids were taking part in to reach a feeling of euphoria without drugs. The ‘choking game’ involves children strangling themselves or one another until they pass out.

“He was 11 years old, turning 12 in just a few short months,” said Kerri of Bryce. “He's gone forever from playing a game."

Kerri hopes her son’s death will act as a warning to both parents and children of the dangers associated with strangling.

Rumblings of the choking game have circulated in North American schoolyards for decades. Officials believe the dangerous practice has claimed hundreds of children each year but definitive numbers cannot be confirmed as a large percentage of the deaths are likely reported as suicides. The vast majority of the deaths involved children between the ages of 11 and 14.

Bryce was an athletic 11-year-old who played organized football, was a member of the Boys and Girls Club, and volunteered during Calgary’s 2013 flood recovery.

Following Bryce’s death, members of his football team discussed the choking game further with Kerri.

According to Bryce’s family, the 11-year-old did not exhibit any signs of suicidal tendencies, a fact which does not surprise Peter Choate, assistant professor of social work at Mount Royal University.

“It’s almost never actually a suicidal behavior,” explains Choate. “If you talk to people who engage in this game, it’s to make themselves feel better, to feel like they fit in with their peer group socially, or to do something that's kind of risky and dangerous.”

Choate says children involved in the choking game do not consider death a possible outcome. While many start playing the game in group settings, the danger increases dramatically when they start experimenting with strangulation on their own.

A large number of parents who lose their children to the choking game are not aware of the game’s existence until it’s too late.

Choate recommends parents discuss the game and its danger with their children, allowing future conversation opportunities where preteens and young teenagers can possibly prevent harm to themselves or others.

Officials with the Calgary Police Service says they are aware of the choking game but there are no confirmed choking game deaths in the Calgary area.

With files from CTV's Rylee Carlson