Nick Blakely, a 19-year-old football player at Stetson University, died Monday after collapsing on the field during practice earlier in the day.
Blakely went to the sidelines shortly after practice started because he wasn’t feeling well, Deadspin reported. He was drinking water when he had what was believed to be a seizure and collapsed. He was given CPR and taken to the hospital, where he died.
Blakely was a sophomore defensive back from Lawrenceville, Georgia, and an accounting major at Stetson, which is in DeLand, Florida. He was redshirted as a freshman and was set to play his first game against Sacred Heart this weekend, Deadspin reported.
Coach Roger Hughes said practice on Monday did not involve hard-hitting exercises. He also said trainers had monitored Blakely after he said he wasn’t feeling well and that emergency response had been fast, News 6 reported.
“The effort to save Nick was nothing less than heroic. Care could not have been provided more quickly. EMTs were on the scene within six minutes,” Hughes said, News 6 reported. Hughes also said Blakely had reported no medical conditions that would have caused his symptoms or death.
Blakely’s teammates and others began posting remembrances on social media.
Grief counselors were available at the school to help students struggling with Blakely’s death.
Blakely’s mother requested that he be buried in his No. 27 jersey, News 6 reported.
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