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| My "sweetie pie" dad, Loren Collins, was run over and killed by the travelift carrying his own sailboat on May 12th last year, 2003, in Harbortown Marina, Ft. Pierce, Florida He was killed by the driver, spotter, travel lift system, marina's and OSHA's negligence, then finally the horrible Central Forida Trauma System that should have saved his life. He stayed on the tarmack bleeding to death one whole hour, while the crew waited for permission to take take him somewhere. He trusted them to save his life or, believe me, he'd have called a cab. HE was that self-sufficient. The operating nurse said he was "the most cooperative patient" she'd ever had. When Dad finally got to the operating room at Melbourne Trauma Center, one hour before his death, he was awake, aware, and cooperating. Can you believe that? "Most Cooperative Patient". We'll have to give him a post-humus award. I'm determined to track down everyone that was involved in our Father. Everyone. The only one that's innocent is his own sailboat, his beloved Crealock 34, Archimedes. He knew she would save their lives at sea. Poor little boat, her weight 22 tons, plus the travelift's weight, crushed his leg off. My father was so strong at 81 and a half, that it took him four and a half hours to bleed to death. His heart ran dry. Even though they gave him six pints of blood (a whole batch). It was way too late. He died of hemorragic shock. I suppose four and half hours is a morbid record. I'm full of a year's worth of anger and tears. Everyone involved lied to Mom and didn't let my father have his love to comfort him and hold his hand into heaven. I can say now. They shared each other the night before. Sixty years in love. Lovers, parents, grandparents, great grandparents. Dad had so many dreams left. He never would have left Mom alone. Now that poor Mom is close to getting her paltry settlement, from the marina's insurance company, Dad's blood money. His suffering and her loss of meaning for life now, was only wortth $642.500.00. THE DEFENSE population would have paid a thousand times more to SAVE HIS LIFE. He was a prominent Defense electronics/electrical engineer, one of the five fathers of the first digitial computer AVIDAC, the Space Program, the Harpoon Missles and many other Top-Secret projects. But even more valuable than his technical prowess, Loren was true gentleman, and a loveing father, husband, son, brother, and friend. He was a source of constant energy and strength. I hope Dad's right, that our electrical energy never leaves this earth. His electricity would power New York for a lifetime. TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOREN COLLINS' MURDER: I HAVE FELT FOR THE PAST YEAR AS I CAN IMAGINE NICK BERG'S PARENTS FEEL NOW. DECIMATED. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SPEAK THE WORD MURDER. NOW I WILL SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFS. MURDER. FOR ALL OF YOU WHO TOOK PART IN HIS DEATH, AND pacify youselves with "OH WELL, AT LEAST HE LIVED A GOOD LONG PRODUCTIVE LIFE", IF YOU KNEW THAT OUR COUNTRY'S DEFENSE PROGRAM NEEDED HIM NOWTO MODIFY HIS INVENTIONS, WOULD YOU FEEL DIFFERENTLY? PROBABLY NOT. HIS BRAIN WAS OVERFLOWING WITH INVENTIONS. HE WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, DRAWING SCHEMATICS. MOST OF OUR COMFORTS AND SAFTEYS ARE BECAUSE OF MEN LIKE HIM. WHAT SYSTEMS GUIDE YOUR JET IN THE STORMS AND BLACK OF NIGHT ? WHAT SYSTEMS FLOAT SILENTLY ON THE OCEAN, IN THE AIR AND SPACE TO MONITOR AND DEFEND THE FREE WORLD? LOREN WAS AN INVALUABLE PART OF OUR SAFETY. AS A CHILD AT HOME, I'D SEE HIS SHADOW CRUISING THE PERIMETERS OF OUR HOUSE, MAKING SURE WE WERE SAFE AS WE SLEPT. I KNEW, EVEN AS A SMAILL CHILD, THAT HE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND SPECIAL. HE NEVER STOPPED PROTECTING US. HE WAS LIKE A MOTHER OCTOPUS, WITH GENTLE TENTACLES, KEEPING TABS ON ALL OF US, WHEREVER WE WERE. OUR WORLD IS A COLD AND LONELY PLACE WITHOUT HIM. WE WERE POSITIVE THAT HE'D LIVE LONGER THAN ALL OF US. YOU TREATED HIM LIKE ROAD KILL, BLEACHING OUT HIS BLOOD WITHIN HOURS AND ON WITH BUSINESS. NOT EVEN FLOWERS AT THE SITE OR A LITTLE CROSS. YOU WIPED OUT ALL TRACE OF WHAT HAPPENED THERE THAT DAY AND DIDN'T LOOK BACK. I ALMOST THREW UP WHEN YOUR WORKERS WALKED OVER HIS BLOOD. I FOUND A PIECE OF HIS BONE IN THE BLOODY DENT NEXT TO THE CONCRETE RUNWAY. LOREN COLLINS WAS NOT WORTH LESS BECAUSE OF HIS YEARS. HE WAS WORTH MORE. EVERY ONE WHOSE PATH HE CROSSED CALLED LOREN AN INSPIRATION. YOU KILLED AN ICON, A SYMBOL OF HOPE FOR ALL OF US, THAT AGING DOESN'T HAVE TO WEAKEN YOUR BODY OR MIND, IF YOU DON'T LET IT. YOU WILL NEVER FORGET LOREN ROBERT COLLINS, NEVER. HIS IMAGE WILL BE BURNED INTO YOUR MEMORY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES. YOU'LL SEE DAD'S SWEET FACE WHEN YOU FALL ASLEEP, AND CRY FOR YOUR PART IN HIS DEATH. YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU KILLED. I PROMISED MYSELF, A LIFE TIME CRUSADE TO MAKE YOU FEEL, WHAT WE FEEL. DON'T MURDER ANOTHER FAMILY. OUR HEARTS WILL NEVER STOP BLEEDING. DON'T HANDLE HUGE EQUIPMENT, GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS. SELL BOOKS, OR LINENS, OR FRUIT OR SOMETHING SAFE. YOU'LL BE CAUTIOUS WHEN YOU RIDE YOUR TRICYCLE ACROSS THE GRASS. EVERY LIVING BEING IS IMPORTANT TO SOMEONE, TO GOD. LIFE IS SO PRECIOUS, SUCH A MYSTERY, A GIFT. YOU TREATED MY FATHER LIKE "ROAD KILL". AFTER LOSING MY BABY AND MY BROTHER, I PERSONALLY DIDN'T THINK I COULD LIVE THROUGH ANOTHER SHOCK AND PAIN, BUT HERE I AM A YEAR LATER, STILL BLEEDING. NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE RIGHTEOUS ANGER PART. DID YOU REALLY THINK WE'D GO DOWN THAT EASILY? To the Murderers of Loren Collins, I will bring you to justice, nomatter how long it takes. Loren's daughter and oldest child, Mary Ann Collins |
| Precentaurain Dad sails us to the Bahamas |
| Lorrie lived with us not nearly long enough. He isn't here to bury us now. What will we do? |
