Projo GameTime Blog

The Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Wekiva High School ninth-grader Olivier Louis died Tuesday afternoon after collapsing on the football field during practice, officials said.

The 15-year-old boy was transported to Florida Hospital Apopka after experiencing "medical difficulties" on the field around 4 p.m., officials said. The teen died at the hospital, said Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Cpt. Angelo Nieves.

A large crowd gathered at the hospital Tuesday evening.

The teen's brother, Michael Louis, 18, and friend Rubin Printemps, 20, said they were told Olivier was stretching on the field when he suddenly fell backward.

"I don't know how that makes sense," said Michael Louis, who was visibly upset.

The teen's parents were praying inside the hospital chapel, Michael Louis said. The boy's stepfather, Mario Etienne, expressed shock and sadness at Olivier's sudden death.
"We just learned that this tragedy happened," he said, adding that Olivier was the youngest of seven children.

Nieves said in an email that deputies responded to the high school shortly after 4 p.m. "in regards to the 15-year-old male freshman team football player who was transported to the hospital from the school after falling ill on the practice field and collapsed...The youngster did not respond to additional life saving attempts and succumbed at the hospital."

Deputies were interviewing witnesses who were at the scene when the teen collapsed Tuesday, Nieves said. Homicide detectives are conducting a death investigation.
"We will have grief counselors here at the school (Wednesday) for students, said Kathy Marsh, Orange County Public Schools spokeswoman.

Last month, six Apopka High School football players were hospitalized and treated for heat-related illnesses suffered at practice on a day when the temperatures hovered in the mid-90s.

It was not known Tuesday whether the day's heat played a role. The high at Orlando International Airport on Tuesday was 88 degrees and in Daytona Beach the high was 87.
The Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy on Olivier Louis to determine how he died, Nieves said.

The news of the boy's death spread quickly.

Students from Apopka High and Wekiva High gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Kit Land Nelson Park in Apopka for a pep rally for an upcoming football game between the two schools.

Apopka Mayor John Land said several hundred people were at the park Tuesday afternoon when he was asked to deliver the news about the student, and then called the pep-rally off.

Land said school district officials did not give him details about Oliver's death.
"It's a tragedy, and one that I'm sure will touch a lot of people in the community," Land said Tuesday night. "It really hits home."

The football players were not in attendance at the rally. Friday's football game is still scheduled to take place.

Friends wrote condolence messages on Olivier's Facebook page on Tuesday evening, expressing sadness and grief.

"Oh God, gonna miss you bad man...R.I.P.," one friend wrote.
"R.I.P. you will live forever in our hearts . . ." another friend said.

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