Bloodied And Terrorized, Abduction Victim Feared He Wouldn't 'Make It Through Night'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It was a story that made national headlines – two Chicago area college students kidnapped and tortured in upstate New York.
Now, one of those victims, Nicholas Kollias, is sharing the story of his terrifying experience with CBS 2's Sandra Torres.
"I had been bleeding for hours," Kollias says. "I didn't think it was going to make it through the end of the night."
Kollias, 23, a Northbrook native, played football at New York's University of Rochester. He was a college senior, in December 2015, when he and a teammate were attacked. A young woman used Facebook to lure them to an off-campus residence.
"When we entered the house, I sat down and the next thing I know is that the room goes black and out comes five to 10 men with guns and knives and bats and chainsaws," Kollias says.
For the next 40-plus hours, Kollias and his teammate were repeatedly beaten and tortured.
"I was shot twice in both legs and I was hit over the head with fluorescent light bulbs and bats and bars," he says. "It's really just something you would see in a really graphic scary movie."
A police SWAT team eventually rescued them.
"There was huge explosions and the house lit up so I'm thinking we're about to die, but instead it was the SWAT team," Kollias says.
Authorities say Kollias and his teammate were abducted in retaliation for a drug-related robbery they had nothing to do with. Nine people got prison time, with sentences ranging from seven to 155 years. Kollias believes some got off easy.
"I believe it was a hate crime because there's videos of me being assaulted and verbally racially assaulted," he says.
But with the trial over, Kollias wants to focus on building a new life.
"It's just all about progressing my career and keep getting stronger and better," he says.