Branden’s Message of Hope

Branden Colvin Jr. lighting candles in preparation for a vigil for his father and two other people who are believed to be in the rubble of the partially collapsed six-story apartment building in Davenport, Iowa.

Branden Colvin Jr.’s personal world literally came crashing down on Sunday, May 28, 2023, when a six-story apartment building in Davenport, Iowa partially collapsed.

Among the three people whose bodies were found in the rubble about a week later was Branden’s 42-year-old father, Branden Colvin Sr.

Except for several hours on each of two days during the week following the building collapse, Branden, age 18, stayed at the site 24-7, hoping for any chance that his father had survived. At night he slept on the pavement near the building site, refusing to leave the scene, even as officials warned that the rest of the building could come crashing down at any time.

The first time he left the site was to take final exams at Rock Island (Illinois) High School – across the Mississippi River from Davenport. Branden said that as soon as he walked into the school, he broke down and cried.

The second time was to return to the high school on June 3, 2023, for graduation, where he received his diploma amid loud cheers from the packed gym. On that same day, his father’s body was found.

He told a CNN News Team that he wasn’t sure he would be able to have enough strength to walk across the stage. 

Branden said he wished he could hear his father’s voice again.  He said that before, that voice was annoying.  But now, he’d do anything to hear it again.

In a Facebook post he wrote, ‘I never thought I would lose my dad.  I’ll never understand this.’

Then he added, ‘You have hope, or you have nothing.’  He paused, then said, ‘I’d rather have hope.’

We thank the Quad-City Times (writer Sarah Watson and photographer Nikos Frazier) as well as the CNN News Network for their contributions to this story and the photos accompanying it. Most of all, we thank Branden Colvin Jr. and his father.