Parents of sophomore who died in hazing incident issue warning about the dangers

Timothy Piazza was just 19-years-old when he died in his first night of hazing for a fraternity.

The college sophomore was taking part in challenges to be accepted into the frat house Beta Thea Pi, The Pennsylvania State University - which is more commonly known as Penn State.

Timothy was one of 14 students pledging to become a part of the frat house on February 2, 2017, at around 9pm.

As part of the first night of pledging, he took part in 'the gauntlet', which entailed him to down a handle of vodka, which holds 1.75 litres of the spirit - just shy of 40 shots.

It didn't end there, he then drank beer and red wine on top of that.

However, despite consuming such an excessive amount of alcohol, it wasn't the drink that killed him - although it was the cause of the accidents that followed.

While inebriated, Piazza fell down the stairs to the basement and was later captured on CCTV being carried back upstairs by multiple Beta brothers.

They then lay the unconscious teen on the sofa and left him.

Timothy Piazza was just 19 years old when he died (CBS Mornings)

Later on, he woke up again disorientated and fell down the same flight of stairs.

Again, footage captured the incident and the boys taking him upstairs and laying him on the couch and put blankets over him.

Incredibly, despite Piazza falling down the stairs twice, the frat house decided not to call the emergency services for help and instead Googled head injury symptoms, tried to get him dressed and cleaned up the party, the Business Insider reports.

The following day he was finally taken to hospital where he died.

Now, his parents Jim and Evelyn Piazza have issued a warning to college students and parents about the dangers of hazing.

The pair were interviewed for Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life, an A+E series.

Warning about frat life, they said parents should make sure their kids know 'how important they are, how much you love them, how they are not invincible, how you trust them, but that other people do bad things'.

Penn State's Beta Thea Pi frat house, where Piazza fell down the stairs while intoxicated twice (CBS Mornings)

Jim urged students to call 911 if they see someone in a similar state to his son, after he was told that Piazza would have survived if he was taken to hospital earlier.

Adding: "If somebody does need help, you're not a doctor. Don't question it. Call for help.

"If you feel uncomfortable calling for help in front of the rest of the organization, walk outside and call for help. Do it anonymously. It's all fine."

They didn't end there, they also reminded fraternity hopefuls that these houses need funding so pledges should team together if they are asked to do anything illegal or damaging to themselves or others.

Jim said: "Say no as a group. They're not going to throw you out. They need your money."

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