The COVID-19 death of a young University of Alabama superfan has prompted a contact tracing investigation by Indiana health officials, according to reports.
Luke Ratcliff, 23, died Friday of complications related to the coronavirus, Tuscaloosa News reported.
A megafan on the school basketball team, Ratcliff was known by his plaid jacket and nickname, “Fluffopotamus” or “Fluff” for short.
Ratcliff had returned from a road game in Indianapolis the night before being hospitalized.
“It doesn’t seem real,” said University of Alabama basketball head coach Nate Oats. wrote on Twitter. “Fluff has been our biggest support from day one.”
Now local Indiana officials are reaching out to their Alabama counterparts to “determine if anyone in Indianapolis may have been exposed to COVID-19 by an Alabama resident who has visited Indianapolis in recent days,” they said in a statement.
It is unclear when Ratcliff contracted the virus.