Tampa DJ Scott Tavlin collapses on Courtney Campbell Causeway during 10-mile run: ‘It felt like I was cooking'

TAMPA, Fla. - A Bay Area radio DJ is cautioning others about exercising in the heat after he collapsed while training for an Ironman Challenge. 

When Scott Tavlin, a lifelong athlete and radio host on Hot 101.5, and went for a 10-mile run on Sunday afternoon along the Courtney Campbell Causeway, he never thought he wouldn’t be able to complete it.

"I wanted to take on the elements," Tavlin said. "I wanted to feel the sun to get ready for the Ironman that's coming up."

Tavlin says he got over the bridge and turned around, but that’s when he felt his body start to give out on him.

"That's when I immediately felt that my body was weak," Tavlin said. "And I thought, okay, I'm a little weak. I can slow down. But it's when I slowed down, I realized I've been weak before and this is more than just weakness and to the point where I had to walk."

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Tavlin says even walking became more difficult, and he had to stop and take breaks to sit down every few minutes.

Scott Tavlin said he wanted to run in the heat as part of his training. 

As a seasoned athlete, he thought he knew his body and knew how to properly hydrate for an intense workout.

"It felt like I was cooking," Tavlin said. "It literally felt like my insides were cooking, like I couldn't catch my breath."

Tavlin realized he couldn’t beat the heat any longer though. He started to panic, because he was running by himself and didn’t have anyone nearby to help him.

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"I felt my shoulders start to get the chills and I felt my neck get a chill down it and I realized that's not a good sign," Tavlin explained.  "And it was when I started not being able to really see properly. 

Scott Tavlin says people rushed to him giving him water and cool towels after he collapsed. 

I thought it was just sweat, and every time I’d go to wipe my eyes, it would still be blurry."

Tavlin says his legs finally gave out as he came upon the concession stand at Ben T. Davis Beach. He says he collapsed and some employees thankfully came to his rescue.

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"And I just laid under that pavilion for over an hour trying to cool my body off," Tavlin said.

Dr. Michael Patch, an emergency department physician with Advent Health, says there are two different types of heat emergencies.

Scott Tavlin collapsed near the concession stand at Ben T. Davis Beach while on a run. 

"One is the exertional one. That's the most common ones you hear about. Athletes or someone being outside too long," Dr. Patch explained. "But there's also non-exertional, or classic, and that's when you get into worrisome about the elderly patients, because it's kind of a slow, ongoing process."

Patch says there’s a wide range of symptoms with heat-related illnesses, but some of the warning signs are dizziness, nausea and feeling light-headed or disoriented.

"You know, you can just step outside and feel the difference this summer," Patch said. "And then that goes along with more and more what we're seeing."

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Patch says it seems like someone is coming into their hospitals around the Bay Area almost every day with a heat-related illness.

Scott Tavlin training for an Ironman Challenge. 

"Someone could be out there for 30 minutes or so and start to exhibit symptoms," Patch said. "Someone could be out for six hours before they exhibited symptoms. You just really have to be cognizant of your surroundings, where you are, how you feel."

If it weren’t for people racing to Tavlin with water and ice, he says he probably would’ve ended up in an ambulance to the hospital.

He says this experience has completely changed his mindset on how he prepares for workouts.

"It's scary to think that if you don't prepare properly right now in this moment, it could creep up on you fast," Tavlin said. "And now I'm going to go at it at a much safer level."

Patch encourages people to listen to their bodies because everyone is different.