MINNEAPOLIS _ When 10-year-old Colby awoke last Wednesday morning, he was in a fishing kind of mood. He and his parents were vacationing near Park Rapids, Minn., and Colby had climbed out of bed early, grabbed his rod and reel and headed with his mom, Kaia, and dad, Seth, for Mantrap Lake.
A skilled angler, particularly for his age, Colby developed his pitching, skipping and generalized well-honed casting techniques in part by watching pro angler Scott Martin's YouTube channel. Called Scott Martin's Challenge, the regularly updated videos feature the Lake Okeechobee-based Martin chasing all manner of fish, including Minnesota walleyes, bass, northern pike and muskies.
Colby watched Martin's videos so frequently in part because in 2017 the young boy was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. He had complained to his parents of a sore elbow in February of that year; a rash followed. Ultimately, his kidneys failed.
"When Colby was in the hospital for treatment, and later when he underwent chemotherapy, he watched a lot of videos," his mother said. "His dream always was to fish with Scott Martin."
Before his health problems, Colby had been an active young boy. He and his parents live in Worthington, Minn., and Colby regularly fished near that southwestern Minnesota city, as well as in the Alexandria area, where he and his parents vacation.
Colby couldn't have known during his treatments at Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., that one of his doctors recommended his parents reach out to Make-A-Wish Foundation to see whether that organization could help restore normalcy and happiness to Colby's life.
Which put in motion a series of phone calls from Make-A-Wish that ended at 3M corporate headquarters in Maplewood.
3M and Martin, as it happened, had worked together on various projects.
"Watching Scott's videos helped Colby endure his hospital treatments, and ever since then, Colby has dreamed of meeting Scott and fishing with him," said Mike Laninga, a 3M communications specialist. "Because of our partnership with Scott, working with Make-A-Wish, we could help make that dream come true."
