At nine years old, Ezra Phoenix Chatterton has dealt with a lot of adversity. The biggest challenge is a cancerous brain tumor. As if that weren't enough, however, his father's house burned down as he watched. "But I really liked that house," he commented at the time, adding "At least nobody's hurt. It'll be o.k. because we're all safe."

Like his namesake, however, good things were born of that fire. He and his father decided that instead of replacing the toys he lost in the blaze, they would get a computer and internet connection so that they could play the online game World of Warcraft together. The two have bonded even closer since and spend a lot of time playing and discussing the game.

Blizzard, the company that makes and hosts the game, heard about young Ezra and invited him to their offices for a tour. Ezra got to design a weapon, add a character and develop a new quest for the game. He even got to include his dog Kyle in the game. He was even taken to a recording studio to record voice-overs for the character he developed. After that, Blizzard boosted his character to a very high level and gave him lots of in-game supplies and gold.

It didn't end there, however. The company has added a new character to the game -- a phoenix that, as best I can figure it, players can get hold of to ride around the virtual world. Instead of making it available to just anyone, however, the first Phoenix went straight to young Ezra.

"The phoenix is an image that has recurred in Ezra's life over the years, mostly because it's his middle name, and I think that a person will usually take any chance they can get to more closely connect with their given name," explains his father. "Not to credit the name per se, but I have always been proud of Ezra's ability to cope with difficult times in his own life. He's been able to go through things, before the cancer, that I couldn't imagine dealing with as a child, and still retain his generous spirit and spark of imagination."

This is a pretty cool story. I wish more companies acted like this, taking an interest helping kids dealing with challenges like the ones Ezra has faced.