COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — Seven-year-old Collin Wong bravely stood next to his father's casket in 2019 singing "You Raise Me Up" by singer Josh Groban. It was a beautiful tribute to his father whose life ended after a 5-year-long battle with colon cancer.
"I always tell people he made me a better person," said Wong's widow, Lynn.
Lynn Wong says her late husband, Air Force Major Dom Wong, learned he had cancer in 2014, shortly after their second child, Juliana, was born.
"About five months later, our world was turned upside down," Wong said.
"When he was first diagnosed, we thought we had it," Wong said. "It wasn't stage four, it was stage three, and he went through treatment. We celebrated no evidence of disease a year later. That was February 2016, and then in September 2016 he went in to have a surgery and the cancer was back."
The diagnosis: peritoneal carcinomatosis, cancer on the lining of his abdomen.
"It was spreading and growing, it was time to come back home," she said.
That was Thanksgiving Day. Two days later he was gone.
"I don't think anybody knew, but a little part of me thinks he knew (he wouldn't make it), " said Wong. "He was sitting on the couch, and I was in the kitchen, and he called both the kids over and he said, 'Collin, Juliana, Daddy's going to be with Jesus soon, he's going to go be with Jesus, and it's going to be ok. You're going to be okay, and your Mom is going to be okay, and everyone's going to be okay."
Remarkably, they are. Collin is getting even more attention for his singing as he takes every chance he can get to perform in front of a crowd. His sister, Juliana, invests her time in dance.
"It's so fun to watch her and she's just flourished," Wong said.
Activities are all made possible with the help of Angels of America's Fallen.
"He kept getting asked, 'Will you sing the national anthem?' and Angels of America's Fallen has given him so many opportunities to sing," Wong said.
"I asked him the other day, 'Collin, how do you do it? He says, 'Mom you just think of something else'," she said.
The family is grounded in Wong's bravery and legacy of love.
"He spent the last almost 5 years of his life, living, thriving, fighting. and fighting for his own life fully aware that he wasn't going to make it and I just think that that's bravery," said Wong.
You can help children of the fallen just like the Wong family at the 5th Annual Angel Run at Red Leg Brewing Company in Colorado Springs. It's Monday, May 29, 2023. Click here for more information.
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