QUITMAN – The sole surviving player in a rollover crash that killed three members of the Brooks County High School football team has been released from the hospital.
De’Vron Whitfield, a rising junior at the south Georgia high school, had been airlifted, in critical condition, from the scene Tuesday morning and transported to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla. One day later, Whitfield was released to the care of his mother, who drove him back home to a welcome of family and friends.
“He has made a very quick recovery,” said his mother, Tisha Waters-Whitfield.
By Thursday afternoon, Whitfield was sitting up on a couch at his home, watching a movie with five of his teammates.
The four players were on their way to a summer football practice Tuesday morning when the driver of the SUV they were in lost control. The vehicle flipped and slammed into a tree. Whitfield was ejected from the car. The other three — Jicarre Watkins, Johnie Parker and Whitfield’s brother, Shawn Waters — died at the scene.
The town gathered at the school for a prayer vigil Tuesday night. Brooks County coach Maurice Freeman met with his team Wednesday morning, accompanied by several religious leaders who offered counsel and consolation
The first funeral, for Waters, is scheduled this afternoon. Parker’s funeral is planned for Sunday. Services for Watkins, at the Brooks County football stadium, is tentatively scheduled for next Saturday.
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