Collin Michael Miron passed away on February 16th 2014 after a lifelong battle with Cystic Fibrosis. He was 21. His memorial service took place in Englewood, Colorado on February 21st.
Collin and his father Carl were kind enough to give Roman and me a glimpse into their lives a few years ago. You see, Collin was a racer, a proper racer with talent and a thirst for off-road buggies. Carl runs Colorado Off Road Extreme (CORE), an off road playground about 30 minutes east of Denver, which gave Collin a place to compete. CORE has a variety of courses for various off road enthusiasts, including enough space for good sized off road endurance racing.
A few years ago, the Make A Wish Foundation helped supply Collin with a race buggy and Roman put together a video spotlighting Collin and Carl.
The video, shot in May of 2010, shows a fun-loving, yet quiet young man and his father dealing with something unfathomable to most. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. It is a terminal disease, with only a few surviving to young adulthood.
Racing was in Collin’s blood and CORE gave him a place to shine. Carl encouraged Collin and had the guts to ride in the buggy (it’s a punishing ride). This was father and son at its best. They were more interested in the here-and-now rather than darker days further away.
Collin was great to talk to and his knowledge about dirt racing exceeded many “experts” twice his age. He helped his father run CORE and he was on hand for many events that Roman and I attended. Collin was polite, easy to talk to and never appeared to dwell on his situation. He was, simply put, a great kid.
As a father, as any parent, today was a painful day. Yet, there is something amazing that happened that I must share with all of you. It’s something that’s hard to see on a day like today. It is this: in his brief life, I was lucky enough to know Colin Miron. I’m the lucky one, and so are the others that knew him.
On behalf of the staff and family from The Fast Lane Car and Truck, our condolences go out to the Miron family and to every lucky person who knew Collin Miron.
Nathan Adlen
Here’s that video of Collin Miron that Roman thoughtfully shot, edited and produced.
