A Little Ray of Sunshine

January 26, 2023

Family Features

Jose, or “pocoyo,” meaning “little one” in Spanish as his family calls him, is adored by two older siblings, Monique (15) and Rafael (13), and his parents, Jose and Jenny. He loves to play outside, run, find bugs, get dirty and play with water. When a sudden cancer diagnosis weakened his immune system and made it dangerous for Jose to play on public playgrounds, his family came across Roc Solid’s playset program and knew it was perfect for their playful four-year-old.

Jose, age 4, and his siblings Monique, age 15, and Rafael, age 13, on their new playset. — Jose and his siblings, Monique and Rafael on their new playset.

“Nothing made sense,” Papa Bear Jose shared. “Just remembering that day feels like a punch on our hearts. It makes me think of a person who’s still feeling the effects of some sort of anesthesia and not fully awake, only dizziness and nausea.” The family recalls August 4, 2022—the day Jose was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in their Texas children’s hospital. During treatment, the family heard about Roc Solid through their Facebook support group and applied to receive a playset.

Jose in the hospital the day he was diagnosed — Jose at the hospital the day he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Lemonade, little hands and a big surprise

Soon after, Jose received two large boxes on his front porch. As the family started to open up the boxes, Jose was curious and excited by what might be inside. “Jose didn’t really know what was going on, but he loves to be involved in anything we do, so we had him help drill some parts of the playset together,” Mama Bear Jenny shared. Although Jose wasn’t sure what he was building, the growing excitement from his older siblings was enough to keep him interested.

Jose and his papa bear, Jose, building the playset — Jose and his papa bear, Jose, putting together their playset.

“We had lemonade and a beautiful afternoon outside. Of course, after a while Jose got tired and went inside, so his Daddy finished building the playset,” Jenny told us. “It only took him a day and a half because all the instructions were so easy to follow. By the next morning, we told Jose we had a surprise and, voilà, a beautiful new playset!”

Giving back the gift of play

Jose and his older brother, Rafael, playing on their new playset — Jose and his brother, Rafael, on their playset.

When Jose came outside, he was beyond happy, he wanted everyone to play! “We as parents are extremely happy with our playset because now his low blood counts won’t be an obstacle anymore to be able to have a fun day at a playground because he has his own,” Jenny and Jose told us. “We will cherish these memories for a lifetime because this diagnosis will leave a deep wound and mark on our lives, but compassion and kindness like this towards us will be like the little ray of sunshine in the dark memories we remember in the future.”

Now, in January of 2023, Jose is still in treatment but doing well and looking forward to many days full of play in the future. His family thanks Roc Solid and Signature Consultants for sponsoring their family’s playset. They extended their gratitude, saying, “We will forever be grateful to you for contributing to ease this terrible pain our little sunshine is going through.”

Jose with a big smile as he sees his playset for the first time. — Jose reacting to his seeing his new playset for the first time.

Are you or your company interested in building hope for a kiddo fighting cancer? Please visit our Sponsor a Project or Become a Corporate Partner page on our website or email us at info@rocsolidfoundation.org to get started today. Together, let’s change the world!