La Pine teen beats cancer, gets Disney World wish

Eighth-grader Collin Ellingson had his first day of classes Wednesday at La Pine Middle School, but soon he’ll be missing a class — for a reason everyone who knows him is celebrating — his winning battle against cancer.

Collin was granted a wish from the Make a Wish Foundation and is taking his family to Disney World, starting on Friday.

Collin was diagnosed with a rare form of Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma last year at the age of 12.

“One I heard the cancer word, it was just like the Charlie Brown teacher – womp womp womp,” Susan Lott, Collin’s mom, said Wednesday.

It was hard news for a mother to hear, but Collin wasn’t worried that he could win the fight.

“I just thought it was a sickness — nothing too serious,” Collin said.

No one could doubt his strength.

“I would start crying, and he would be like, ‘Alisha, this is OK. We’re going to get over this like a family,'” said Alisha Ellingson, Collin’s big sister. “You know we got this.”

It turns out the caring teen was right. Now at 13, Collin is in full remission. He now gets to celebrate his victory with the people who helped him get through it.

“He wanted to bring everybody with him that helped out,” Lott said.

While Make A Wish couldn’t accommodate the entire team it took to get Collin to remission, they were able to send his immediate family.

While the family gets to celebrate together, there is one thing that surely won’t be on their mind.

“It’s stress-free — we don’t have to think about anything,” Lott said. “Just go have fun and don’t have to think about cancer at all.”