Army football players hospitalized after drug overdose on spring break

Two members of the Army football program were hospitalized Thursday for a drug overdose that happened on a spring break trip to Florida, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. Six people, included an unnamed Army football player, were found unconscious in a vacation home after taking fentanyl-laced cocaine, per the report.

Two individuals remain in critical condition and on ventilators as of Friday, while three are in stable condition and one has been released. Of the six people hospitalized, two were confirmed students at the US Military Academy. Another Army football player was at the house when the drug overdose occurred, but is unharmed.

“The U.S. Military Academy is aware of the situation involving West Point cadets, which occurred Thursday night in Wilton Manors, FL,” Army said a statement to the Sun-Sentinel. “The incident is currently under investigation and no other details are available at this time.”

Two of the individuals involved suffered cardiac arrest shortly after using the drug, according to the report.

Neighbors of the rental property told the Sun-Sentinel they had complained to management and city officials about excessive noise, parties and other issues coming from the home in the past few days. Police were called to the property, which is used to seeing plenty of college students for spring break, the night before the incident.

One resident who wanted to be identified only as G.T. said he didn’t see much on Thursday.

“I came out and a couple of dudes were laying out there,” he said, pointing to an area in front of the rental house where he said the two men were unconscious.

With the episode happening shortly into Spring Break, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Spokesman Stephen Gollan said there’s a concern that throughout the break, things could become “much worse” if laced drugs are spreading in the area.

“This is a great concern because you have a drug that’s laced with unknown substance here, and I mean, it’s just the beginning of Spring Break,” Gollan said.

Fentanyl, which is sometimes used by dealers as a drug additive to increase potency, has quickly become an epidemic and is one of the leading causes of overdose deaths nationwide. In Florida’s Broward County, 611 out of the 798 total accidental drug overdoses involved fentanyl. The CDC reports that more than 75,000 Americans died from opioid overdose over the 12-month period ending in April 2021, primarily from fentanyl. 

It is unknown at this time whether the Army football player is one of the two people still in critical condition.