A witness to the jet-ski accident that left Duke wide receiver Blair Holliday with critical injuries described a horrific and chaotic scene that played out on the Fourth of July.
Matt Johnson was one of many holiday revelers who were shocked Wednesday when Holliday and teammate Jamison Crowder collided on popular Lake Tillery about 125 miles south of Duke's Durham, NC, campus.
Johnson, who was visiting the lakeside home of his uncle, said the accident occurred about 20 yards from his dock at about 5 p.m. Johnson, 20, a student at Alamance Community College, said Holliday appeared to be moving sideways on his jet ski when he collided with Crowder.
"I heard a very loud plastic-on-plastic-body bang, looked up and saw Blair in the air,'' Johnson said Saturday night in a telephone interview with FOX Sports Carolinas. "People were yelling to call 911 and running toward the dock.''
Someone in the water put Holliday on Crowder’s jet ski and rode with Crowder back to a dock belonging to neighbors of Johnson's uncle. Johnson said about 15 to 20 people attending a party at the neighboring house ran toward the dock. Johnson said he also ran over and helped lift Holliday from the jet ski and onto the dock.
"To be honest with you, he looked dead,'' Johnson said. "I thought he was dead, but his stomach moved, and it moved again and was then moving up and down . . .
"His head was so swollen. When I saw the picture on him later on TV, it didn’t even look like the same person I saw on the dock.''
Several published reports said that Holliday had fallen into a coma, but Art Chase, Duke's media relations director for football, maintained Monday afternoon he hadn't been told that and was unaware of any change in Holliday's condition.
The response to the tragedy was immediate. Johnson said he was amazed at the number of strangers who banded together to get help to Holliday.
It was almost as if they had prepared for such an incident, Johnson said. Callers to 911 had to help EMS personnel navigate a long, narrow and unmarked road to the correct property in the rural community. And Johnson said a young woman performed CPR on Holliday three times.
"He stopped breathing,'' Johnson said. "He stopped two or three times, and she saved his life. She saved his life.''
Johnson said he doesn't know the young woman's name but later learned later she is a nursing student.
Johnson said a distraught Crowder remained on his jet ski before someone talked him into climbing onto the dock. There he sat with his head in his hands, appearing uninjured and declining medical attention.
Brandon Garrison, a law-enforcement officer with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said the water on Lake Tillery on the Fourth was choppy and more dangerous than usual.
An excess of boats and other watercraft caused the choppiness, which might explain why Holliday's jet ski was moving sideways.
"It's known on Memorial Day, July 4, that the water in Tillery gets real rough because there are so many people out there . . . especially for inexperienced drivers,'' Johnson said.
For Johnson, the images of the day are hard to forget.
"It's hard to get that out of my mind,'' said Johnson, who played football and lacrosse at Orange Senior High School in Hillsborough, NC. "I keep praying for (Holliday). I'd love to see him on the football field again. More important, I pray he can have a normal life.''
Holliday was transported by Montgomery County EMS to the Stanley County Regional Medical Center, then airlifted Thursday night to the University of North Carolina Trauma Center, where he remains in critical but stable condition.
Holliday, listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, is from Sherman Oaks, Calif. He caught only three passes a year ago but was slated to start this season for the Blue Devils.
Holliday had an excellent spring practice and was chosen Duke's Most Improved Offensive Player.
"He’s a young man of high character and comes from a great family,'' said Chase, the Duke publicist. "He's gifted athletically; those are the things that immediately come to mind about Blair.''
Crowder, a 5-9, 175-pound sophomore from Monroe, NC, about 40 miles from Lake Tillery, caught 14 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown last season and is expected to contribute a great deal this season.
