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'He's very excited to play': Volunteers build new playset for Northern Kentucky boy battling cancer

The build was part of a national tour for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
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FORT THOMAS, Ky. — A boy in Fort Thomas has a big reason to smile: volunteers constructed a new playset in his backyard Wednesday morning.

Mason McMahon is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The 3-year-old loves playing with trucks, going to the zoo and eating pizza.

Through long stretches of treatment beginning in June, including 35 days in the hospital, his father Mitch McMahon said maintaining childhood wonder for Mason is important.

“At the end of the day, he's a kid,” McMahon said. “He just wants to play and have fun, and then that's really what he does.”

Roc Solid Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing children fighting cancer with playsets, organized the build on day 13 on their 30-day national tour for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

By providing the McMahon family with the new set in their backyard, build leader and volunteer Hailey Russell said it gives Mason more opportunities to play.

“We cannot change what's happening in their day-to-day lives. However, we can change how they live with it,” she said.

When it came time for the big unveiling, Mason ran straight into the banner, falling down. But Mason knows a thing or two about getting back up.

“He gives us inspiration,” McMahon said. “We just kind of follow.”

McMahon said Mason’s outlook is bright, and he’s been hitting all of his medical benchmarks so far.

Mason reports his favorite part of the new playset is the "big boy swing" and the slide.

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