VIDEO: Remembering The Life Of Fallen EMT Michael Collums

CHICKASAW COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Shock and sadness swirl around Chickasaw County first responders today.

A MedStat EMT loses his life responding to a call to help save someone else.

54 year-old Michael Collums died in the crash on Highway 32 in Chickasaw County.

His co-worker was seriously injured.

Helping others, that’s how many remember the fallen first responder, and that’s exactly what he was doing when the crash occurred.

Now, those that worked with him day in and day out are trying to process and grieve while continuing to help others.

It’s a challenging job.

That’s why first responders form strong bonds.

Together, on Tuesday evening they worked to save two co-workers in a crash that killed EMT Michael Collums.

None of them could have prepared for what they saw and experienced.

“It doesn’t come out of that textbook, by no means. You’ve got to have it in your heart,” says Chickasaw County Emergency Management Agency Director, Linda Griffin.

Chickasaw County responders train together and work together.

Griffin saw Collums at an emergency call, less than two hours before he would die serving his community.

“He loved working in Chickasaw County. That was his first priority to stay here and you know, I know when something happens to somebody all you can say is good things about them, but you know, even if I was mad at him, I couldn’t think of nothing bad to say about him.”

Houston Firefighter and Chickasaw County Fire Coordinator Jonathan Blankenship says it’s rare and extremely painful when first responders work to save another first responder.

“It’s hard to comprehend at first. Then when the tones drop and you get the message that one of your own is in trouble, you go and you try to put aside your anxieties and take care of business, and then it all hits you after the fact.”

Blankenship, like many who knew Collums, is still trying to process what happened and how and why.

However, the work to save others continues.

“We would love to be able to take off and just grieve, but we can’t because somebody is always going to need help. Something is always going on and whoever’s turn of the day, you just get up and go, and tomorrow will be a new day. You get to take off and do whatever you need to, to do deal with it, but when it’s your turn to go to work, you just have to go.”

The people who knew Collums say he was a true team player, involved in the community, and easy going.

“He was a good guy, you know, like I say, he was always likable and I don’t think he’d ever met a stranger. He’d greet you the first time he’s seen you, like he knew you for years,” says Houston Firefighter, Billy Watkins.

Michael Collums’ wife is also an EMT at Baptist Golden Triangle in Columbus.

The other ambulance crew member injured in the crash, Ray Reed from Caledonia, is in fair condition at North Mississippi Medical Center.

Collums and his partner were based in Houston, working for MedStat.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is still investigating the wreck.