5-Year-Old Who Won Hearts Downriver and Across the Country Dies

A 5-year-old whose independent streak and gift for engaging stories won hearts in Wyandotte and around Michigan has died.

Collin Taylor, who has spent much of the last year as a patient in Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s pediatric intensive care unit, died Thursday, The News-Herald reports. He had contracted a virus Wednesday, his grandmother Laurie Gilbert said, and “was just too tired to fight anymore.”

When he contracted the virus, Collin was being treated for a genetic disorder that prevented his bone marrow from making new blood cells. He had suffered brain hemorrhages that required bone marrow transplants. The condition was diagnosed in late 2013 after his mother, Raechel Taylor, noticed excessive bruising over his entire body.

Collin’s older brother, Jayden, 6, had a last visit with his brother before “Collin was rewarded for his superhero bravery with eternal life with God, Our Father, and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” the boy’s grandmother said.

During his short life, Collin became known for his “independent streak a mile wide” and as an “animated boy who enjoyed telling stories to anybody who would listen” until his condition left him paralyzed and robbed him of his voice, family members said.

On Jan. 16, members of his church family at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Trenton organized a card shower to make his 5th birthday extra special. Collin received cards from 22 states and India. READ MORE ON THE NEWS-HERALD.

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