kick off encouragingly?

[Eway]

Dear Teachers,

I read this from the English translation version of Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa:

"Go change clothes and come do a few warm-ups," Coco said to him, going back to jumping in place.
"If you feel a heart attack coming on, you may kick off, but so what?" Polly said encouraginglly, picking up Coco's rhythm.

Does "to kick off" mean "to die" here? This sentence doesn't sound very encouraging though.

[bhaisahab]

Dear Teachers,

I read this from the English translation version of Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa:

"Go change clothes and come do a few warm-ups," Coco said to him, going back to jumping in place.
"If you feel a heart attack coming on, you may kick off, but so what?" Polly said encouraginglly, picking up Coco's rhythm.

Does "to kick off" mean "to die" here? Yes, it does. This sentence doesn't sound very encouraging though.

Not at all encouraging.