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Tallahassee Democrat: Andrew Coffee 911 tape. Too late to help

Andrew Coffey’s body was stiff and without a pulse by the time his fraternity brothers called 911.

A recording from the call released Tuesday depicted a disjointed scene on Nov. 3 when the body of the 20-year-old Pi Kappa Phi pledge was found unresponsive after a binge drinking fraternity party.

Fraternity members didn’t know the address, a house on Buena Vista Drive, and commented how Coffey didn’t have a pulse. They also divulged details about the events of the night before.

“We had a party last night and my friend passed out on his side and his lips are purple. His body is extremely stiff and I can’t wake him up, and, honestly, I don’t feel a pulse,” someone can be heard telling dispatchers over the phone. “Oh, God.”

Most of the 10-minute long tape is comprised of the dispatcher coaching someone through chest compressions as EMS officials arrived at the house. Sirens can be heard in the background about eight minutes into the call.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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