A 22-year-old Hilton Head native has succumbed to a traumatic brain injury following a traffic accident in late April.
Jacob Towery Collins died Saturday afternoon at the Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, said deputy coroner Shane Bowers at the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. An autopsy will not be conducted.
Lance Cpl. Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) said the crash took place around 8 p.m. on April 23. Collins was traveling east on Fording Island Road (U.S. 278) in a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado pickup while a Toyota SUV pulled onto the highway from Okatie Center Blvd. The cars collided in the intersection, leaving the other vehicle’s occupants with minor injuries.
Collins recently graduated with a computer programming certification from the Technical College of the Lowcountry, according to his obituary . He had worked part-time in Jasper County’s IT department since early 2023.
Lovingly called “J” by his family, Collins was known as a kind, gentle soul who “quietly loved those that he cared about,” his obituary says. He stayed busy with challenging repair projects: rebuilding four-wheelers and mini bikes, working on his boat and constructing a custom PC.
A funeral mass was held Tuesday afternoon at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church. Founding pastor Father Gregory West, who baptized Collins into the church, delivered the homily.
“God was with Jacob every step of the way: at his bedside, with his family, with you as you prayed for him, hoping against hope that he would recover,” West told the congregation. “But God has not exited the scene.”
The crash remains under investigation by the SCHP. Collins’ death marked the twelfth of 14 traffic-related fatalities in Beaufort and Jasper counties so far this year. Others include:
May 13: Hilton Head resident John Glenn Campbell died after colliding with a tree in Sea Pines . May 11: A Bluffton man was charged with felony DUI after he swerved into a tree along Bluffton Parkway, killing an infant in the car . April 29: A bicyclist from Hardeeville was struck and killed by an unknown hit-and-run suspect , believed to be driving a Chevrolet pickup truck or SUV. April 5: A 3-year-old boy crossing Bay Pines Road in Beaufort was struck by a pickup truck and died early the next morning . March 31: Ridgeland resident Stephen “Steve” Roberts was killed after his truck ran off I-95 in northern Hardeeville. Feb. 28: Hardeeville man Nelson Espinoza-Flores drowned after his vehicle crashed into a retention pond in the RiverPort Commerce Park. Feb. 27: Daniel Cardenas-Andrade of Ridgeland was killed after his car struck a tree outside Yemassee.
Feb. 26: Bluffton man Jason Flack died in a hit-and-run while crossing Hilton Head’s Gumtree Road on foot.
Feb. 14: Beaufort teen Ethan Fish died when his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck on S.C. 170. Feb. 5: Three Savannah residents were killed after their car hydroplaned in southern Jasper County. Jan. 26: Hilton Head resident Gregory Parcella died after his Tesla struck a tree on Spanish Wells Road. 
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