May 25, 2009 11:15 pm US/Eastern
Mike Tyson's Child Critical After Hanging Accident
Girl, 4, Hospitalized After Injury On Exercise Machine In Ariz. Home
PHOENIX (AP) ―
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Former boxing champ Mike Tyson poses for a photo during director James Toback's documentary film 'Tyson' at the 61st Cannes International Film Festival on May 17, 2008, in Cannes, France.
Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images
Boxing champ Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter is on life support after she was found with her neck on a treadmill cable Monday, police said.
The girl's 7-year-old brother found her on a treadmill with her neck on a cable attached to the exercise machine at their Phoenix home, police Sgt. Andy Hill said, calling it a "tragic accident."
The boy told the girl's mother, who was in another room. She took the girl off the cable, called 911 and tried to revive her.
Responding officers and firefighters performed CPR on the child as they rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was in "extremely critical condition" and on life support, Hill said.
"Somehow she was playing on this treadmill, and there's a cord that hangs under the console — it's kind of a loop," Hill said. "Either she slipped or put her head in the loop, but it acted like a noose, and she was obviously unable to get herself off of it."
Hill said former heavyweight champion Tyson had been in Las Vegas but flew to Phoenix immediately after learning of the accident. Police didn't release the girl's name.
CBS affiliate KPHO-TV in Phoenix identified the girl as Exodus Tyson.
Tyson could not immediately be reached for comment but 42West, a New York City public relations firm representing him, released a statement on the family's behalf.
"The Tyson family would like to extend our deepest and most heartfelt thanks for all your prayers and support, and we ask that we be allowed our privacy at this difficult time," the statement said.
Brief footage from local TV station KTVK showed Tyson arriving at the hospital in a white button-up and black pants, and looking around with a frown before going inside.
Hill said everything in the investigation pointed to an accident and there appeared to be no foul play. "There's nothing in the investigation that revealed anything suspicious," he said.
He added that responding to calls involving children is an officer's most difficult duty.
"Those are the things that stay with you in your career," he said. "We always hope for a miracle — not to have the worst happen to a child."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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