After driving his car into a canal on April 13, former Bakersfield College president John Collins, 93, was hospitalized.

Since then, he has been recovering in Mercy Hospital, and staff around BC have been wishing him well.

Dr. Robert Allison, a longtime friend of Collins, has been visiting Collins while he recovers.

“Yesterday, he was good. He was alert and sharp and lucid, and, as usual, full of wisdom and good advice,” said Allison. “As he has been for the last 48 years.” According to Allison, Collins is anxious to leave the hospital.

“He certainly loves to be busy. He’s a person who has always been busy.

“Anyone who knows John knows he has always been active.

“He never really retired until he was about 92, and he’s still involved in many, many activities.”

Collins founded the BC Foundation and was the first president of Moorpark College, according to Allison.

He was also a founding member of the BC Archives and helped establish the Levan Institute.

“John Collins is like the heartbeat of BC in general and the archives in particular,” said Jerry Ludeke, director of the BC Archives.

“He has probably one of the best and longest institutional memories of anyone connected to Bakersfield College. His leadership and wisdom are invaluable to us”

According to sources who wished to remain anonymous, Collins could leave Mercy Southwest Hospital while recuperating from his surgeries.

He would be moved to a different hospital for rehabilitation.