Fiancée thankful for ‘outpouring of love’ following death of ESPN college football reporter

The fiancée of late ESPN college football reporter and University of Florida graduate Edward Aschoff posted Thursday evening on his social media pages to offer her thanks for the “outpouring of love” following his death.

“I want to say thank you to everyone who has expressed their sympathies, condolences, and prayers for me and his family and friends,” Aschoff’s fiancée, Katy Berteau, wrote. “The outpouring of love, admiration, and gratitude for his life have been so incredible, and have helped me through these last few days. It has brought me brief moments of joy in this darkness to see all the pictures, videos, and memories of all the lives he touched. I couldn’t be more proud that the one thing people are talking about most was his ability to lift them up with his energy, light, and that all-encompassing smile.”

ESPN announced Aschoff died Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 34.

In a post on Aschoff’s Facebook and in a series of tweets from his Twitter acount, Berteau said that she also wanted to provide more clarity about the death of her fiancé, as accuracy was “of the utmost importance” to him as a journalist.

“Edward was admitted to the hospital a week after our first visit to the ER, where he was diagnosed with multi focal pneumonia. After failed antibiotic treatment, with worsening of symptoms, we took him back to the ER and he was immediately admitted. After many tests, including bone marrow and lung biopsies, treatment was started for a presumed diagnosis of HLH, which is an unregulated, over-activation of the immune system that causes it to attack itself and other healthy tissues. Within three days of being moved into the ICU, he passed,” she said.

Aschoff joined ESPN in 2011 as part of the SEC blog network, which covers the NCAA Southeastern Conference. During the past three seasons, Aschoff reported from college campuses across the U.S. for ESPN.com, SportsCenter, SEC Network and ESPN radio, ESPN reported. He was both a television and radio sideline reporter during games.

A native of Oxford, Mississippi, and a 2008 graduate of the University of Florida, Aschoff previously covered recruiting and Florida football for The Gainesville Sun.

Aschoff covered some polarizing aspects of college football during his career. He and fellow ESPN reporter Adam Rittenberg won first place in 2016 for enterprise writing in the Football Writers Association of America’s contest for their look at the role of race in college football.

Aschoff’s fiancée said they are still working on the details, but there will be a small memorial in Oxford and a main service in Atlanta.

She also shared a link to an official fundraising page, where people can donate money to Aschoff’s family and funeral fund.