CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP, Mich — A Middleville woman is mourning the loss of her brother who died in a car crash on April 18. She said it's hard to comprehend because he had a near-death experience five years ago.
"I just keep telling myself it's not real and I don't know when I will actually accept it. I think it's mainly because of the way it happened," said the sister of Anthony Collins, Anna Collins.
Just one day before her brother's 32nd birthday, Anna mourned the loss of her brother. He was pronounced dead at the scene after a crash near Caledonia at the intersection of Cherry Valley Avenue and 100th Street. His friend in the passenger seat survived but he didn't.
"He was driving, like on his way home with his friend and I guess what happened is like, I don't know if he fell asleep or not. Something happens where he kind of veered off into like the other person's lane and he ended up hitting the semi," said Collins.
Five years ago Anthony survived a brutal attack. He was stabbed more than a dozen times and slit in the throat, by a backseat passenger riding along with him in his friend's car.
"They were just driving down the road and this person like, leaned forward and like they slit his throat and stabbed him 13 times. He had a run to the nearby house. This lady ended up saving his life because she put her clothes on him and like, put pressure on the wounds and like she had five kids at home. They all helped out as a team," said Collins.
She said her brother was a fighter and won five years ago.
"He put up such a miraculous fight and he made it. He flatlined and they brought it back to life. Nobody, even the first responders, thought that he was gonna make it," said Collins.
As far as the crash that led to her brother's death less than two weeks ago, Collins and her family still don't know exactly what happened.
"My parents aren't doing very well. It's just like with how fast everything's been, really the funeral and like, all that stuff, but it's crazy because like, you have to do it right after," said Collins.
The daughter is being cared for by her mother's family.
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