HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL)— In March of this year, a 12-year-old Harris County child lost his life in an ATV crash. His family is now working to give back to the hospital that cared for him in his last hours.

“He was a very active, outgoing kid. And he loved sports. He loved coming to the gym. He never complained. He just always worked hard,” Colin’s father, Nicholas Henson, told WRBL.

March 19, tragedy struck at the Henson’s home. Friends had come over for a regular evening of outdoor fun and dinner when Colin crashed an ATV.

“He got on the small side by side we had,” Henson said. “And basically, when my older son had found them, he had wrecked the side by side. It fell on top of him. He was unconscious when they found him.”

Colin never breathed on his own again.

“He had just been without oxygen for too long. And so, his brain was just completely injured from just anoxic brain injury, just lack of oxygen,” Henson said. “You know, he was a big stout boy and amazingly, he had no scratches on his body.”

After being stabilized at Piedmont Midtown, Colin was rushed to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite where he eventually succumbed to his injuries on March 21.

“Usually, it’s always kind of a customary thing after a child or anybody passes, then usually the nurse and the staff will give the person a bath. They offered for us to help, and we definitely wanted to,” Henson said. “And so, again, he was a big kid. And after we had bathed him, then they usually put pajamas on them. They didn’t have any big enough to fit Colin. And so, we ended up kind of scrounging with what we had.”

All they found was a pair of gym shorts and shirt. That’s when the idea of Colin’s Closet was born. Close family friend and registered nurse, Lindsay Martin, organized a clothing drive. A drive full of compassion, modeled after Colin to give to other families, and to set an example.

“I think the biggest thing is just to show them that you just got to keep going. And unfortunately, we go through these trials and tribulations in our life, and I think you just have to make the good out of it. Ultimately, Colin really had a big heart. And I think even more than we knew because after it happened, so many people from this community just did so many things for us,” Henson said. “Kids I never even knew or heard of; they would send us notes that basically said why they remembered Colin. And usually, it had something to do with either he either stood up for them when somebody was bullying them or he said, ‘hey’ to them every morning, even if he wasn’t friends with them. Or he’d come up to them and put his arm around them… and that’s what they remember Colin for.”

Dec. 13 would have been Colin’s 13^th birthday. Colin’s Closet will now be a designated closet at Scottish Rite. Every year on his birthday, the Henson’s and Martin will be donating collected clothing items. This clothing drive is just the first step the Henson’s are taking to keep Colin’s loving spirit alive.

“The biggest thing that that I’ve gotten out of it and tried to show our other kids is, again, it doesn’t take much to show somebody that you care about them. It’s really those small things. That’s part of why we’re trying to do this,” Henson said. “We do have plans right now in the works of doing Care Like Colin as a non-profit for this county basically to support the youth of Harris County in all means. And it will encompass the Colin’s Closet in the future. But again, I think you just see these little things that that somebody can do and the huge impact that that has.”

The Henson’s are collecting sizes 2T to adult 2X. Donations can be made through Nov. 27 at any of the following drop-off locations (left).

Those who wish to support Colin’s Closet but cannot drop-off donations can also Venmo Lindsay Martin (right) or purchase items off of the Amazon wish list.

More information on Care Like Colin Inc. will be coming in early 2024.