After Son Died in Crash, Parents Form Bond with Man Who Got His Heart and Liver: ‘Paying It Forward’ (Exclusive)

"I'm still carrying my own legacy and my own purpose, [but] I think I'm also still carrying his," Skylar Collins tells PEOPLE

• Nate Rhoades, 21, died following a January 2022 car crash in California after he managed to get sober from an addiction

• His parents opened a nonprofit wellness and recovery center named in their son's honor while Rhoades' organs have helped up to 100 people — including Skylar Collins, who has gotten close with the 21-year-old's parents

• “Our son and us are paying it forward," Nate's dad tells PEOPLE
  

In January 2022, Nate Rhoades was critically injured in a crash with a semi-truck. The personal trainer was declared brain dead and put on life support to keep his organs alive. He died five days after his 21st birthday.

Today, his legacy lives on through his organ donations that have helped up to 100 people – including a Washington State man that Nate’s family has grown close to – as well as a nonprofit center helping at-risk teens and young adults struggling with substance use and mental health challenges.

“We always say, ‘Nate's on the other side, just, I mean, opening doors for us,’ ” Nate’s mom Heidi Allison tells PEOPLE of her son, who had an addiction as a teen before sobering up. “Because we've had so many miraculous things happen.”

Allison says she and her husband Larry Rhoades’s only child was a “little fighter,” who was born 12 weeks early weighing just over 2 pounds. Nate, who was in the hospital for about six weeks after his birth, had anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, ADHD and was an extreme extrovert, she recalls.

Related: Parents of Girl Who Died After Swing Accident Say Her 'Heart Is Beating Somewhere' Thanks to Organ Donation

“He just loved people,” the therapist says. “Both Larry and I are in recovery from alcohol for many years. So, we sat down with [him] when he was eight and nine and said, ‘Look. You're going to have to be so careful because both your parents have had issues with alcohol.’ ”

But eventually, he and his friends began to experiment with different drugs. One morning, after the teen got a hold of some pills, the parents say he was found “barely conscious.” He was then sent to a residential treatment center, relapsed and was sent back.

Allison, 65, says “something clicked” during that second and a peer recovery coach helped Nate stay sober. He studied Addiction Studies at Oxnard College in California and even became a certified fitness trainer at a local Gold's Gym, where he worked until he died.

“His real passion was exercise, fitness and helping people,” Larry, 80, says.

After his crash, Allison shares that several visitors arrived at the hospital to say their goodbyes to Nate and tell stories about him. His family and his girlfriend watched in awe.

“At one point, one of us, we don't remember who, but one of us said, ‘Oh my god, this is like Nate's place at the hospital,’ ” the therapist remembers. “We came up with the idea, ‘Well, maybe we can do something with this to help other people, other kids, like he did.’ "

This inspired them to open Nate’s Place, A Wellness and Recovery Center in 2023. The center offers one-on-one peer recovery coaching, group therapies and recreational activities like boxing, guitar lessons and ping pong. Heidi says more than 250 people have benefited from it so far.

But the parents recognize their son has had a more solemn tangible legacy too — by helping strangers with his organ donations.

“What you produce is helping somebody else live,” Larry says. “Our son and us are paying it forward.”

The couple says they wrote a letter to each of Nate’s donor recipients saying that they were “so happy” their son could help them. They received some responses. One from Skylar Collins, who received Nate’s heart and liver, really stood out to them.

"Oh my God,” Allison recalls the letter saying. “I was so happy to get your letter. You can't believe what I've been through." He then said he would love to meet them.

Related: Family Celebrates Thanksgiving After Dad Gets Double Organ Transplant from Sons: 'Amazing Gift' (Exclusive)

Collins, 31, tells PEOPLE that he was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome, which means he was missing a right ventricle. By the time he received the transplant, he had about 10 heart surgeries.

When Collins was told that he needed a transplant in 2017, he shares that he was a bit skeptical. Ultimately, he realized he needed to move forward because he wanted to “live, not die.”

“I had goals and achievements I wanted [to] do,” he adds. “I wasn't done down here.” The husband says it was a yearslong process that sent him from hospital to hospital — briefly halted due to the pandemic — before he got a “call” on Jan. 25, 2022, that there was a match.

By that summer, Allison and Larry had an emotional, nearly hour-and-a-half conversation with Collins and his wife, Alex, over Zoom.

Collins, a social worker, says he’s happy that family quickly relieved him of any guilt. “I always thought that was really cool,” he adds. He and his wife have continued to bond with Nate’s parents, at one point visiting Nate’s Place during a trip to California.

Related: Why Living Organ Donor Brian Flynn Donated a Kidney—and Part of His Liver—to 2 Strangers in 2 Years

The Washington man tells PEOPLE that he feels a deep connection with Nate and his family. Their friendship is everything he’s dreamed of.

“I really [wanted] to meet the donor family, have some sort of relationship with them,” Collins says.

And while he recognizes his transplant might not last “forever,” Collins, who is now expecting a baby with Alex, feels there’s no longer “this dark cloud” hanging over him.

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He’s also found comfort in carrying on Nate’s legacy.

“I don't think it's a coincidence that we ended up crossing paths in this way,” he adds. “So while I'm still carrying my own legacy and my own purpose, I think I'm also still carrying his. I think I've been given the responsibility to carry out that mindset of helping people, encouraging people, being there for people, for both of us.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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