Boyfriend, friends share emotional messages to teen who died after suspected sexual choking act

Tributes have poured in for a teenage girl who died following a suspected consensual choking act during sex.

Paramedics were called to Elanora Heights on Sydney ’s Northern Beaches on the afternoon of August 23, where they found the 16-year-old unresponsive .

The teen was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition and tragically died two days later.

Loved ones have taken to social media with tributes honouring the girl, with her boyfriend saying “I love you more than anything”.

“I miss you more than you could ever imagine. Rest peacefully my love,” he said, news.com.au reported.

“My sweet gorgeous girl, you always had a smile on your face, I will forever miss you.”

Police are investigating whether the teenager died from asphyxiation after being choked during consensual sexual activity.

A 2024 study from Melbourne University Law School and The University of Queensland found that more than half of Australians aged between 18 and 35 had engaged in strangulation during sex, with most (61 per cent) learning about it through pornography.

Study co-author professor Heather Douglas said the act can lead to serious injury or worse.

“It doesn’t matter if there are no apparent injuries, or whether the person consented,” Douglas said at the time.

“Brain injury can also be incremental — getting a bit worse with each choking — and the person may not know they have suffered a brain injury.

“The effects of repeated strangling are insidious and build over time, like the effects of repeated concussions on footballers.”

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government is weighing up a UK -style ban on pornography that depicts strangulation and suffocation .

“There is something wrong with a situation where 60 per cent of young people say they’ve experienced strangulation during sexual encounters,” she told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.