Busted In Acadiana

The Advertiser is reporting that a Lafayette Parish sheriff’s deputy collapsed and died Wednesday at Carencro High. The deputy was also a volunteer wrestling coach and was helping the wrestling team during after-school practice with the incident occured.

Greg Lavergne, 48, who had volunteered for more than 10 years at the school, could not be revived despite efforts by the school’s coaches and paramedics who arrived at the scene, said Carencro Principal Ken Roebuck.

“He was a member of our family,” Roebuck said. “It’s going to be a big loss for the kids and for the school.”

Grief counselors from the Lafayette Parish School System’s crisis team will be at the school today to work with students and staff. Counselors were also made available to the students and staff Wednesday evening, Roebuck said.

“We’re there to help both our faculty and our kids,” Roebuck said. “I don’t think you can ever replace him, but we’re thoughtful of how much everybody loved him.”

Lavergne was a watch commander in the Patrol Division of the Sheriff’s Office, said Capt. Kip Judice, Sheriff’s Office spokesman. Judice said he knew Lavergne well. Lavergne had been with the department more than 25 years, Judice said.

“He was a great guy, very dedicated,” Judice said. “He spent his entire career in the Patrol Division and was very proud of that. A proud father. He loved his kids. He loved the sport of wrestling and gave a lot of time to that.”

Lavergne is survived by his wife, Lorie, and four children, including a daughter who is a student at Carencro High School.

One of his sons participated in years past on the wrestling team, Roebuck said.

Lavergne was working with the school wrestling team in the school gymnasium when he collapsed about 4 p.m.

The boy’s basketball team and the school’s Dazzlers dance team were also working out in the gym at the time, Roebuck said.

Coaches ushered the students out of the gym and began performing CPR on Lavergne, including using a defibrillator that had been installed in the gym, Roebuck said. The staff had participated in a yearly training session with Acadian Ambulance just a month earlier, he said.

Paramedics arrived soon after but were not able to resuscitate him.

Roebuck said coaches would not let the students who had been participating in the after-school activities drive home, and parents were called to come get them.

“It’s a big loss for Carencro,” Roebuck said. “He volunteered his time and was a great father and a great coach and a great part of our school.”