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By JOANNE KORTH and GREG AUMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 25, 2001
Florida freshman fullback Eraste Autin remained in critical condition Tuesday at Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
Autin, 18, of Lafayette, La., collapsed Thursday afternoon with a severe case of heat stroke after a voluntary conditioning workout. He was rushed to the hospital, where he had a massive heart attack and fell into a coma.
According to family friends, early tests indicated there was no brain activity, but doctors were encouraged on Monday and were going to run significant tests on Tuesday.
At the request of Autin's parents, Dr. David and Joanie Autin, hospital and school officials are not releasing further information. Autin has a sister and two brothers, including twin Robert. Also, fans have gathered at fan site Gatorcountry.com for nightly online vigils for Autin.
The site reported that 85 people visited the chat room for Monday's vigil, and nightly meetings were planned until his condition improved.
A virtual card for Autin's family was created Tuesday afternoon at mudlizard.com/misc/autincard.html, with 41 fans adding their name in the first hour and 198 by 10:30 p.m.