Tragically, a father and son have died after attempting to wait out a storm. The two were sheltering under a tree at a golf course due to a bad storm sweeping through the area.
The incident happened in Georgia. 58-year-old Matthew Terrell Collins Sr. and Mathew Terrell Collins Jr. died after part of the tree fell on top of them. They were playing a round of golf at Bull Creek Course in Midland. That's when a storm whipped through the area. The two parked their golf cart underneath the tree to wait out the storm.
However, strong winds caused part of the tree to break off and fall on top of them. Sadly, they were both pronounced dead at the scene. They died as a result of both blunt force and crushing trauma. According to WTVM, authorities discovered the wrecked golf cart shortly after the incident happened.
Father And Son Die From Falling Tree
A GoFundMe page described the bond that the two shared. It read, "On April 6, 2025, our community suffered a heartbreaking and unimaginable loss. Matthew Terrell Collins Jr., age 29, and his father, Matthew Terrell Collins Sr., age 58, both tragically died when a tree fell on them during a severe weather incident. They were spending time together when the storm struck—sharing a moment between father and son that would unknowingly become their last."
It continued, "Matthew Jr. was a loyal friend, a kindhearted soul, and someone who always showed up for the people in his life. He shared a deep bond with his father, and losing both of them so suddenly is a devastating blow to everyone who knew and loved them. Now, we're coming together to support the person who meant the world to them—Matthew Jr.'s and Sr.'s wife and mother, who is now facing the unimaginable: laying to rest both her husband and her son."
Following the tragic accident with the tree, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp mourned the loss of the two.
"Marty, the girls, and I are saddened by the tragic deaths of two Georgians in Muscogee County today as a result of the severe weather," Kemp wrote. "We ask that you join us in keeping their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, along with all those responding to storm damage."
