Collins returns the gift of life

Brewton resident Austin Collins is remembered as someone who made the most out of everything he tried but he lost the one battle he couldn't win when he died Saturday from complications associated with rejection from a heart transplant he received more than eight years ago.

Collins, 26, was a native of Milton and life-long resident of Brewton. He was a 2010 graduate of T.R. Miller High School and a member of Brewton First Baptist Church.

Former T.R. Miller head football coach Jamie Riggs said Collins was one of the hardest-working players he's ever coached.

"Nobody ever wanted to be a football player at T.R. Miller more than Austin," Riggs said. "He grew up watching T.R. Miller football and wanted to be a part of it."

Riggs said Collins wasn't the most physically gifted player and in his early years he was small and slow.

"He made up for that by being aggressive," Riggs said. "He willed himself to do it. Sometimes we'd think he wouldn't make it but he'd prove us wrong. He worked hard to get better every day."

Riggs said Collins was moved to center and became a really good football player.

"He blocked people he had no business blocking, he just worked harder than the other person," Riggs said.

Riggs also explained Collins was one of the most patient people he's ever met and said that mind-set helped him down the road.

"He was just a great young man," Riggs said.

Mallory Mullis went to school with Austin through 12th grade and has nothing but fond memories of him.

"I don't have a lot of memories of me growing up without him in them," Mullis said. "Austin was always so kind. He was selfless and would do anything for anyone."

Mullis also said Austin was a very funny person, pulling pranks and spitting out funny phrases he called 'Austinisms'.

"He was a great person," Mullis said. "I don't know many people like him. He was one of a kind for sure."

She said while most of her classmates went in different directions after high school graduation she always looked forward to the Christmas holidays when everyone would come back to Brewton and get together.

"I can still see him smiling," she said.

Austin Lindsey said he first met Austin when they were about 15 or 16 and they didn't like each other at first.

"I went to Neal and he went to T.R. Miller," Lindsey said of the early dislike.

He said students from Neal and Miller used to hang out at the Winn Dixie parking lot after school with Neal people at one end and Miller people at the other.

Lindsey said one day the parking lot was packed and Austin pulled up right next to him. They became friends that day.

"For the past six years when you saw him you saw me, it was always Austin and Austin," Lindsey said. "He was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back or his last dollar."

Lindsey said Austin always put his on problems aside to help others.

"That's what makes him so special," Lindsey said. "When he had problems he never talked about them but reached out to help others. His main drive was to make sure his sister and mother were taken care of. He was a great friend and a great person and will be truly missed. He lived every day like it was his last."

Cody Swain said he's known Austin since the two were about 6 years old and their friendship grew over the years.

"I can't tell all the Austin stories I know, but he was a wonderful person," Swain said.

The both graduated from T.R. Miller in 2010 and Swain recalls Austin showing up for graduation as a surprise to all his classmates.

"We played football together, went to church together and did most everything together," Swain said.

He said it was shortly after the 2010 football season that Austin found out about his heart condition.

"We didn't know if he would be able to make graduation so we got with his mom and held a graduation party for him at the hospital in Birmingham," Swain added. "Then he showed up at graduation without telling anybody and it was special."

Swain said he and Austin went to a church camp when they were about 10 or 11 and Swain hadn't been there five minutes before he fell and busted his knee open.

"We were scheduled to room together," Swain recalled. "I had to go get stitches and when I got back I couldn't bend my knee. Austin spent the week putting socks on my feet and tying my shoes."

Swain and Austin continued their friendship after high school and last year helped Austin get a job at Weyerhaeuser where Swain worked.

"We worked side by side," Swain said.

He said a few months ago while they were riding to work, Austin told him his heart was rejecting.

Swain saw Austin at work on the Monday before he died the next the next Saturday.

"He loved to work," Swain said. "He looked pale that day and I told him he needed to go home."

That was the last time he spoke to Austin.

"I was watching the Alabama, Auburn game that Saturday when I got the call," Swain said. "I didn't care about football anymore. I'm an Auburn fan and Austin was an Alabama fan so I'm actually glad Alabama won on his last day."

Collins fell ill in 2010 and it was determined to be heart failure. He got a new lease on life on Sept. 23, 2010 with a heart transplant. His younger sister Anna received a heart transplant on April 17, 2001.

Collins' mother, Susie Williamson Collins, said the impact of his gift of a heart gave him a different outlook on life and what it means.

"The gift of an organ and tissue donation allowed Austin to have another chance at life," she said.

She said Austin had signed up to be an organ donor himself in hopes of giving someone else a chance when his time came.

"With his joyful and giving spirt he wanted the opportunity to bless many different individuals through bone, tissue and eye donation," Mrs. Collins said.

She noted donations of bone tissue are used for bone defects or fractures caused by severe trauma, cancer or diseases. Other tissues Austin donated were ligaments, tendons and cartilage that is used to rebuild joints and restore cartilage surfaces. The fascia lata, pericardium and skin are used for life-saving covering for severely burned patients, providing a natural barrier to infection.

She said he even had the option to donate heart valves from the heart he received to have another chance at life.

"Austin's corneas will allow another child to see their parents and see beautiful sunrises and sunsets," she said. "What is a better gift to give than the gift at another chance at life."

Following high school, Collins attended Jefferson Davis Community College. He was a former employee of B&W Auto Parts and was employed at Weyerhaeuser at the time of his death.

His mother said Austin learned he was in rejection about two months ago when he went in for his normal annual checkup.

He began treatments to stop the rejection, but a biopsy after the treatments still showed him in rejection.

She said two weeks ago Austin got sick on Sunday with a bad virus. He tried to go to work that Monday but got sick and had to leave. He went to his grandparents house. Susie said she was in Birmingham with Anna, who is also experiencing rejection.

She said when Austin came to the hospital in Birmingham he was being treated for a virus, but it turned out his rejection had gotten worse.

"He kept his spirits high," she said. "He joked with the doctors and nurses, but he had a rough week."

She said this past Saturday he asked the nurses to let him get out of bed and he moved to a chair inside his hospital room. While sitting in the chair, he fell over.

"He went peacefully," his mother said.

Collins' funeral was held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Brewton First Baptist Church with the Rev. Cavin Cawthon, Brother John Finklea, Brother Jack Fitts and speakers Anna Collins, Randy Winton and Jamie Riggs officiating. Burial was held at Union Cemetery with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home of Brewton directing.

He is survived by his mother, Susie Williamson Collins of Brewton; his father, Tim Collins of Brewton; maternal grandparents, Roger and Hallie Williamson of Brewton; and his paternal grandmother, Dolores Collins Gallatin of Brewton. He is proceeded in death by his paternal grandfather, Wayne Collins.