COTA for Collin's Journey

Our Story

Collin is a 4-year-old mama’s boy and the baby of 5, having 4 older sisters. He is very active and sports obsessed, with hockey and baseball being his favorite; when he’s not playing them, he’s asking to watch them on TV. Collin is currently thriving in his half-day preschool where he is known for his quick-witted comments and friendly demeanor. Even through everything Collin has been through in his short little life he still always has a smile on his face.

Collin has unfortunately been suffering from hereditary pancreatitis since he was 18 months old, his first episode being in October 2023. He has been in the hospital upwards of 15 times spending about a week in the hospital each time. Collin has gone through more MRI’s, ultrasounds, IV’s, and blood work than any 4-year-old should ever have to. This diagnosis has brought upon a lot of tough times for Collin as there have been numerous occurrences where he could not attend or finish a hockey/T-Ball practice, go to school or family events.

After his episode in Feb 2026, his team in Boston referred him to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s pancreatic care center for children. There they discovered that Collin now had chronic pancreatitis as he had been in pain daily since December 2025. To relieve some of Collin’s pain, Cincinnati tried to do an ERCP, Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography, where they placed a temporary stent in his major duct and sewed it open by doing a pancreatic sphincterotomy and a Celiac Plexus Blocker. His Boston team then also tried to up his dose of his daily pancreatic enzymes that help Collin with digestion. None of this worked but they did cause Collin to have post-ERCP pancreatitis and landed him in the hospital for over a week for the second time in 2 months. When the Cincinnati care team finally voted on Collin’s care it was a unanimous vote for him to receive the TPIAT (total pancreatectomy with the islet auto transplantation) surgery scheduled for July 2026. This ruling came to no surprise to Collin’s family since his father had just undergone the same surgery last year in February 2025.

Having the surgery means a long-term improvement of Collin’s quality of life but it does not come without its own struggles. During the roughly twelve-hour surgery they will remove Collin’s pancreas, gallbladder, appendix, a small portion of his small intestine and possibly his spleen. Collin has already started to receive additional vaccines to support his immune system and see his care team in Boston in preparation of surgery. Without his pancreas Collin will need the pancreatic enzymes for the rest of his life to aid in his digestion and could be insulin-dependent unless there is a good amount of healthy islet cells received and transplanted back into his liver. Collin’s recovery will not be for the faint of heart, but with his determination, help from his care team and his loved ones, he will persevere, just like his father did.

Having a medical condition of this magnitude comes with many expenses. Between the surgery itself, travel for care to Boston and Cincinnati, hospital stays, temporary relocation, follow-ups, treatments and medications these have and will continue to add up for the rest of Collin’s life. Collin and his family are working with COTA, Children’s Organ Transplant Association, to raise funds in honor of Collin to assist with transplant-related expenses. Every single donation to COTA in honor of Collin to help change his life for the better is appreciated beyond measures. Our family cannot even begin to express how grateful we are for your support and donations to COTA in honor of Collin’s continued battle with pancreatitis.

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.