Rusk man drowns in Africa
BY GLORIA JENNINGS STAFF WRITER

COLLIN CARROLL

A life dedicated to serving others ended Sunday, July 28. Rusk native Collin Carroll, the 21-year-old son of Sandy and Jeff Carroll of Rusk, drowned in Monrovia, Liberia. Carroll, who would have celebrated his 22nd birthday Wednesday, was a volunteer with Mercy Ships of Garden Valley.

He and three other crew members from the Mercy Ship had gone to a popular beach outside of Monrovia. Mercy Ship officials said after lunch the two young men, Carroll and his roommate, went into the water.

The report indicates the two encountered a current and tried to swim sideways when a wave swept Carroll underneath. He did not come up. They found him in shallow water near the beach, but were unable to revive him. He was taken to a hospital, but still could not be revived.

Don Stephens, founder and president of Mercy Ships, arrived Sunday morning at the close of worship at Rusk First Baptist Church to notify Mr. and Mrs. Carroll of their son's death. Mr. Carroll had been the soloist for the morning worship service. The Carroll family has long-time ties with First Baptist Church. Mr. Carroll has served as minister of music at various churches, but the Rusk church has always been their home base. Both grew up there.

The world's largest k non-governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, began her inaugural sail May 9 from Rodderdam, Holland. Rusk native Collin Carroll was assigned to this $62 million vessel at the time of his death. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MERCY SHIPS

The Rev. Lee Welch, pastor of the church, said, "Collin was a committed young man. His purpose in life was doing something useful for others. He was giving up six months of his life to serve on the Mercy Ship."

Mr. Carroll was a 2003 Rusk High School graduate. Principal Ricky Hassell said, "Collin was a very good student and graduated seventh in a class of 107 students."

While at Rusk High School, he played varsity football and was named to the All District team and received the M.R. Philbrick Fighting Heart Award his senior year.

He was a December 2006 graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in biomedical sciences. He worked on the ship as a dental assistant. He had expressed an interest in the medical profession, but did not know what direction he would pursue, Rev. Welch said.

Collin Carroll (right) worked as a dental assistant on the Africa Mercy, a floating hospital which provides humanitarian assistance. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MERCY SHIPS

Mr. and Mrs. Carroll told their son that he could go anywhere he wanted after he graduated from college and he chose Liberia. "He told his dad that he just wanted to work on a Mercy Ship," Sam Smith, a vice-president said.

"He was a wonderful child with wonderful parents. They did such a fine job in rearing this boy. I hope that others will take up his cause and fill his place in this ministry. His shoes will certainly be hard to fill," Mr. Smith said. "I hope that you as the media will express our heartfelt sympathy to the family and to your community for this tremendous loss."

Mr. Smith continued, "Collin was very popular on the ship and his life affected those around him. We have grief counseling on the ship working with his co-workers."

Carroll got a Liberian driver's license and picked up patients to take to the ship for medical attention. Rev. Welch said, "Collin had been going to the orphanages. He was moved when he saw the great need. A bag of rice would feed the whole orphanage for several weeks.

Collin Carroll makes new friends quickly while on assignment to the Africa Mercy, a medical hospital docked off the coast of Liberia. Mr. Carroll obtained a Liberian driver's license to pick up patients and provide transportation to and from the ship. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MERCY SHIPS

In a prepared statement, Mr. Stephens said, "Collin wrote the following words in his Mercy Ships application 'Jesus is truly my outlook on each day. Jesus is my source of strength, my inspiration and my ever-present friend. Without Him, I would be nothing.' Collin chose Mercy Ships because we combine the doing of the good news with speaking the good news among the world's poorest. Collin was feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger and visiting the sick- precisely the actions commended by our Lord in Matthew 25. Jesus said that those who do what Collin did would inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world.

Collin Carroll

" I speak for the entire Mercy Ships family when I say, we were honored to have such a fine young man as a member of our Mercy Ship crew. I pray that his example in life will help encourage all who knew him to follow his lead."

Solfrid Quist, executive director of the Africa Mercy, shared these thoughts about Carroll: "Collin was always thinking about other people and put others first. He was caring and was very concerned about other people."

"Collin was a real strong person on our dental team helping coordinate operations and others who worked with him. He encouraged others and was a hard worker and a tremendous asset to our team. He will really be missed," said Jean Campbell, health care manager for Mercy Ships.

Mercy Ships workers are all volunteers. They provide all of their own expenses.

Mercy Ships are hospital ships that provide six operating rooms, recovery/intensive care and low dependency wards totaling 78 patient beds. The ship offers approximately 7,000 surgical interventions onboard in one year including cataract removal/lens implant, tumor removal, cleft lip and palate reconstruction, orthopaedics and obstetric fistula repair. The hospital provides a CT scan as well as X-ray, laboratory services and a Nikon Coolscope which allows remote diagnosis. These diagnosises are transmitted, along with all other data and telephone calls, via an onboard satellite communication system.

In addition to the on-board surgeries, the ship-based teams serve in local villages providing a wide array of services to increase health and well-being including dental clinics, medial clinics, community health education, HIV/ AIDS intervention, water and sanitation projects including well drilling, construction, agriculture and micro-enterprise projects.

The ships have meeting and work spaces as well as berths for an average crew of 450.

Services are pending at Autry Funeral Home in Jacksonville. The body is expected to be shipped from Liberia on Wednesday. A funeral will likely be held on Saturday at the First Baptist Church. Burial will be in Cedar Hill Cemetery.