Luca Ellcessor, a freshman at the University of Colorado Boulder, is using his wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help fund his tuition after recently winning his battle with brain cancer.
The money will cover part of his first year of college and help him pursue his dream of studying astronomy and physics. Ellcessor said it was “liberating” to now be pursuing his passion after thinking he was going to die just a few years ago.
“I have my whole future ahead of me and I don’t want to waste the time I have anymore,” Ellcessor said. “I mean, I never wanted to waste the time I had, but now I realize how valuable it is because I don’t know what could happen to me in the future.”
In the fall of 2020, as a freshman at Littleton High School, he began to experience headaches. Over the course of the fall semester, the headaches got worse. For six months, his doctors thought the headaches were the result of a mild concussion he suffered after tripping and hitting his head. In January 2021, doctors did an MRI and found a mass in his brain. He was immediately referred to Children’s Hospital Colorado at CU Anschutz Medical Campus. The tumor was diagnosed as a low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma in February 2021.
“It was really scary the whole time,” Ellcessor said.
Doctors originally planned to monitor the tumor, but his vision began to deteriorate and the tumor continued to grow, so doctors decided to administer six rounds of chemotherapy from April to November 2021. When that didn’t work, Ellcessor underwent eight hours of brain surgery to remove the tumor in February 2022, resulting in a 40-day hospital stay.
“I remember waking up in the hospital bed and not being able to move,” said Ellcessor. He had to relearn how to walk.
Because the tumor was so deep, recovery was longer and more difficult than expected. Elena Ellcessor, his mother, said her son had symptoms of a brain injury, including memory loss, confusion, balance problems and mental fatigue. He was unable to return to school until the 11th grade, and had to take fewer classes. His vision has stabilized, but he is still blind in his left eye.
“It was horrible. It was really hard and we were lucky,” Elena Ellcessor said, adding, “I don’t think any of us were prepared for how difficult his recovery would be.”
Now she is optimistic and happy for him as he begins his studies at CU Boulder.
“His life has definitely been derailed by his cancer, but he is back to doing what he loves, which is learning and studying astronomy,” she said.
Luca Ellcessor fell in love with science at a young age. He is currently completing his bachelor’s degree in astronomy with a focus on physics. He wants to do a master’s degree in astrophysics and one day work in research or become a research professor.
He is fascinated by everything in space and described his excitement when he learned about vectors and vector addition in one of his courses.
“I’ve always had a passion for science and learning about the world and how the world works,” he said.
Angie Zerr was Luca Ellcessor’s counselor at high school and supported him during his treatment.
“Education is really important to him and I think his decision to use (his desire) for his education is just very inspiring and shows that he really just wants to better himself as a person,” Zerr said.
Zerr said he has always been hopeful and would never get angry at anyone despite his situation.
“He’s always been a really kind, caring and generous person, but I think this has taken him to a new level and he wants to do the right thing and be there for other people,” she said.
Elena Ellcessor said he always cared about others, but she watched as that empathy grew even more.
“He’s always been a kid with a lot of empathy, but now he’s reached a whole new level. He’s always been welcoming of people from different backgrounds and I think now he even has a more comprehensive understanding of neurodiversity. I don’t think he thought about it at 15,” she said.
Due to his visual impairment, Luca Ellcessor uses visual aids and hearing aids for reading. He needs more time to complete tasks than the average person.
“I’m differently gifted now, I can’t do the same things I used to,” he said. “My eyesight is pretty bad, so I have this security camera that lets me see things and read the board. But my love for science and math is still there, and I can do it despite my screwed up eyesight and screwed up brain. Well, my brain isn’t screwed up, but I’m differently gifted now.”
Luca Ellcessor said he feels like he has become a new person in the past two years. He has a good group of friends who helped him during his recovery in high school and has already made new friends at CU Boulder. Before and after his tumor, he enjoyed hiking and other physical activities. He said now he especially enjoys swimming and biking to relieve stress and stay fit.
Luca Ellcessor said he is looking to the future with hope. At 18, he will be able to vote for the first time in the fall.
“I’m just so excited. I felt like Boulder, CU, is my home because I’ve met so many great people here,” he said. “I can really learn a lot here, and it’s exactly what I want.”
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