For most 4-year-olds, backyards are a playland of adventure and fun, a place where they can race around, explore and happily burn off some of their seemingly unending supply of energy each day.

Gavino is one of those kids – he loves to romp around in the backyard of his family’s home in Oregon every chance he gets. But Gavino was having some of his backyard joy taken away, not by a skinned knee or a rainy day, but by leukemia.

His journey to a wish started when the family was headed to the beach one day. A strange rash on his body led Gavino and his parents to the emergency room and then quickly to the local children’s hospital. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and soon began chemotherapy treatments.

During his treatments, volunteer wish granters from the Make-A-Wish Foundation visited Gavino and his family. While a trip to a theme park was tempting, Gavino wanted something closer to home.

“Gavino said, ‘I want a park in the backyard,’” his mother told the News-Register newspaper. “It was hard trying not to tell him that he was getting one.”

Wish day finally arrived during a summer hot spell. Volunteers from the Make-A-Wish Oregon chapter, UnitedHealthcare and others joined in a day-long effort to erect his new backyard oasis. Complete with a tube slide, climbing wall, swings, rope climbs, a telescope and rope pulley with a bucket in blue (his favorite color), the play structure was ready to keep Gavino busy all day.

The volunteers, family and friends gathered for the official unveiling of the structure, decorated with several blue ribbons, and a pizza party. With a yard full of people watching, Gavino was hesitant to try out his new hangout. But it didn’t take long before he was climbing up and down the ropes and happily barreling down the slide with his father.

Volunteers said that once he started playing, Gavino didn’t stop, grinning brightly as he dumped gravel in and out the bucket and raced down the slide time after time. Gavino had a fantastic place to play, and he also found out wishes can come true, even in your own backyard.

The UnitedHealth Group Wishes program has been established to enable the company to grant wishes like Gavino’s through the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s chapters in the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico. UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health and well-being company dedicated to making health care work better. Through its family of businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves approximately 70 million individuals nationwide.