Incoming freshman featured on ABC for her giving heart

Last week, we wrote about three exceptional students who will start at Baylor this fall. ABC’s World News Tonight did us one better, featuring another soon-to-be Baylor freshman, Kristin Elliott, as the program’s “Person of the Week” last Friday. (You can watch the segment here.)

Elliott has been fighting a rare, aggressive form of cancer since she was 16, when she had a grapefruit-sized tumor removed from her leg. Even through multiple surgeries and radiation treatment, she hasn’t missed a beat, continuing to play on her high school volleyball team. (Kristin’s sister Mandy is a junior on the Baylor volleyball team.)

Elliott was contacted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to young people with life-threatening medical conditions. Most requests are for trips to Disney World, or meeting a celebrity. Kristin, heavily influenced by her experiences on a mission trip to Africa, asked for money to start an orphanage in Zambia for AIDS-stricken orphans. The foundation agreed and donated $2,600 towards the $60,000 Kristin will need to get the orphanage started. (Donations are accepted by mail or through her school’s website.) [May 8 update: ABC news anchor Charles Gibson noted on the air last night that Kristin has now raised the $60,000, though I’m sure additional donations would only further the project.]

If that doesn’t challenge us to think about our priorities, I don’t know what will. I’m certainly glad that we’ll soon be able to call Kristin a fellow Baylor Bear.

Sic ’em, Kristin!