Wiffleball tournament honors life of South Kingstown grad

Amanda Pitts

By: Amanda Pitts

alpitts@abc6.com

@AmandaPittsTV

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — The South Kingstown community came together Saturday for the first-ever Chris Collins Wiffleball Tournament, honoring one of their young star athletes who took his own life.

Nearly 200 people took to the field at Tuckertown Park for the tournament to honor Chris, a 20-year-old South Kingstown High School graduate who was a junior at Amherst College.

"We grew up playing baseball with Chris, my dad used to coach him. We knew we wanted to put something together to honor his memory going forward every year," said Nick Hayes, organizer of the event.

Chris’s father, Mark Collins, said his son had been suffering from anxiety and depression since his freshman year of college.

"Over the past three years, its been something that he’s battled quite a bit."

Chris lost his battle this year, taking his own life in March.

"He was a terrific guy, loved baseball, loved music. He was a musician, played guitar and piano. Love learning, was a great student, but I think most importantly really he loved his friends and family."

After his passing, that love for friends and family showed. Friends of Chris told his family of the times he would help them during their own dark times.

"Even when he was battling his own illness, he was really the person that was helping everybody. And that’s why we decided we wanted to start this foundation to continue the work that he’d been doing."

The Chris Collins Foundation aims to shine a light on mental illness by implementing a peer-to-peer program in schools, teaching students how to detect early signs of depression and reduce the stigma around mental illness.

"They will be trained to be aware of and supportive of their friends who might be suffering, and will also help them to seek help with resources within the school and also within the community. There shouldn’t be any stigma in asking for help. We try to teach people that just asking for help is a sign of strength."

South Kingstown and Narragansett high schools are starting the program in the fall, and the Collins family hopes to add at least ten more schools by the start of the 2019 school year.

For more on the foundation, click here.

(c) WLNE-TV 2018

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