Justin Willis, a UConn pitcher, and his family were among the lucky ones to escape last week's collapse of an apartment building in Miami that left over 150 people still missing.According to the West New York, New Jersey man, he and his sister were in Surfside, Florida watching TV when the building started shaking.They saw debris and dust rising from the balcony and went into the hall to find two holes that used to be the elevators. The next-door apartment had been gone. Willis, Athena Aguero, her sister, and Janette Aguero, her parents, managed to descend 11 flights of stairs and assisted an elderly lady with a cane from the third floor.They reached the ground floor and saw that the garage of the building had flooded, and that a wall close to a pool had fallen. Willis, 22 years old, estimated that he and his sister were approximately 15 feet from the point where the building's edge collapsed. He stated that he didn’t look back at it until they reached the beach, as he was focused on getting out. The moment was weighing heavily.Willis said that it just makes you feel better. "I have always been a positive child. "I like to think that I have had unreal experiences in baseball, and what my parents sacrificed for me. But it certainly gives you a new meaning."Willis, a right-handed pitching pitcher, was 4-0 for UConn this season and pitched the Huskies to the NCAA tournament, winning against Xavier in order to clinch their Big East title. He still has one year of eligibility.As rescuers continue to dig through the rubble, nine victims were confirmed dead and 150 more missing.
