‘We’re very humbled:’ kid battling cancer has playset built in his backyard

By Ethan Humble

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    URBANDALE, Iowa (KCCI) — When he woke up on Saturday, Ezra Tennison knew he’d be taking a special ride in his favorite vehicle — a big semi-truck.

But the three-year-old didn’t know about all the work happening in his backyard.

With all the drilling, hammering and screwing, volunteers were building Tennison’s dream playset.

The playset is especially important considering Ezra’s life journey.

He was diagnosed with leukemia back in September.

“It was like a knife to the heart, a punch to the gut. It was very unexpected,” Amanda Tennison, Ezra’s mother, said.

Ezra got some heavy doses of chemo right away for the first six weeks.

But then in January, he entered remission.

“As soon as we got that call, I came in and said that we feel like it was lifted off and we feel like we’re we’re winning this battle,” Cody Tennison, Ezra’s father, said.

Ezra is still getting chemo for the next 18 months to make sure the cancer doesn’t come back.

It’s why the Roc Solid Foundation, a group specializing in helping kids like Ezra, partnered with TMC Transportation to help.

“We’re giving him a spot in his backyard where he can do what a boy is supposed to do — play,” Jeff Floyd, a volunteer with Roc Solid, said. “What we’re doing is we’re building him a safe haven in his backyard to where he can go play when he feels well, when he’s not going through chemo.”

It made for a special surprise to help keep Ezra the positive kid he’s been through it all.

“He’s been very resilient with it. Most times has a great attitude about it, too,” C. Tennison said. “We’re very humbled and very excited at the same time.”

Floyd said the Roc Foundation has been building a few hundred playsets every year for the last 15 years.

The group said Ezra’s playset was the first one built in Iowa.

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