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UF freshman still critical at Shands

By JOANNE KORTH

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 23, 2001

Florida freshman football player Eraste Autin remained in critical condition Sunday at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, three days after sustaining an apparent heat stroke.

Autin, 18, collapsed after a voluntary conditioning session Thursday afternoon.

The 6-foot-2, 250-pound fullback from Lafayette, La., had completed the workout at UF's practice field and was on his way to the locker room with teammates when he lost consciousness outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Tim Leger, an assistant coach at St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette, where Autin rushed for nearly 700 yards with 12 touchdowns last season, said Autin's condition worsened after he reached the hospital.

"(His) body temperature was 108 degree when he was checked into the hospital," Leger told the Lafayette (La.) Daily Advertiser. "Either during or after the tests, Autin went into cardiac arrest and was then put onto a respirator."

At a Gator Booster Club meeting in Daytona Beach on Saturday, coach Steve Spurrier said, "He's not doing very well, so keep Eraste Autin in your prayers tonight, if you possibly can."

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