Hezekiah Walters' family urges awareness during remembrance ceremony

Sharing a message of heat safety

FOX 13's Evan Axelbank shares the message that one Tampa family is spreading after losing their son six years ago on the football field.

TAMPA - The family of Hezekiah Walters, the Tampa teen who died in 2019 during football practice, is working to spread a message of awareness in hopes others won't suffer the same fate.

"The feeling, the moment," his sister Phyllisiti said of learning her brother had passed away, "going through the emotions, that feels like yesterday."

Phyllisity Walters' brother, Hezekiah, collapsed at Middletown HS in June of 2019 during football practice.

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He had a seizure and was found by the medical examiner to have had a body temperature of 102.

Today, his family joined a private remembrance ceremony held by St. Joseph's hospital for families who have lost children.

"There is somebody missing in the family," said Phylisiti Walters. "The family photos don't look the same. And, you know, sometimes you just have to take a moment, reflect and pause, and then remember your vision and your purpose."

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Their purpose has been to urge everyone in Tampa Bay to learn CPR and to be aware of how quickly heat-related sicknesses can sneak up.

They held a training event at the Tampa Skills Center in July.

"If you're just going throughout your day, the heat is so high index that you don't even recognize your body is in the dehydration stages," said Walters. "So I would recommend to always keep a bottle of water."

What's next:

The beginning of the school year, holidays and birthdays are the toughest for them, because they will never lose the feeling that Hezekiah should still be here.

Hezekiah should be about 20 now, with many of his friends preparing to finish up college.

"One of his best friends said I couldn't get through high school without Hezekah," said Walters. "And so those moments where you feel the pain of the death, those keep you going. Those keep you motivated to go on the next day."

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