**Update** Ezra Chatterton passed away on Oct. 20, 2008. Read his father’s tribute HERE.

It’s been just over a year since I wrote about Ezra Chatterton, the young World of Warcraft fan with brain cancer. Back then, he got his ultimate wish granted: To get Blizzard Entertainment to create a character in the game for him.

His words: I wished for a trip to Blizzard because I’d like to see if they could make a character and do some things for us.

Blizzard artists, developers and producers came through and created new characters and gear for the 11-year-old Riverside resident. His family credits that kind gesture for helping Ezra through the worst of the pain and suffering that comes with brain cancer. Readers responded so much to 11-year-old Ezra’s plight that I try to check in with his father, Micah, every few months.

When we last checked in four months ago, Ezra’s primary brain tumor had shrunk 98 percent. Unfortunately, now he has a tumor in his spine, Micah told me. Ezra’s going through another round of chemo and it’s taken its toll. But treatment has helped.

The other news is that the longer Ezra survives, the greater the chance he doesn’t have a more deadly cancer that doctors first suspected. Instead of really bad cancer where patients don’t live more than 2 years, Ezra may have a 20-year window.

“So, it doesn’t do much good for your psyche as a parent. It’s not known which exactly it is. But any good progress or shrinkage gets us closer to that 2-year window,” Micah said.

Ezra still plays WoW two to three times a week but the funny thing is all that cool gear that Blizzard bestowed on him — the fiery crossbow (pictured on right) — isn’t as special anymore because other players have been able to earn the same stuff. It’s harder to get ahead and, added Micah, “You have a lot of people who look like us now.”

Still, players in Warcraft have been mostly kind and supportive, especially the guild that Ezra’s character, ePhoenix, belongs to.

“Half the time he goes in, he doesn’t do anything. He just talks to people. For awhile there, people would come in who had read his story. They would join his server just to talk to him. Mostly, it’s all the guild members now. They know what the situation is,” Micah said. “Our guild was really fantastic when they found out about this story. They really brought us under their wing and helped us do the higher-end stuff.”

Ezra doesn’t e-mail Blizzard producers as much anymore. He was sending them ideas for items and they were really receptive to it. Around Halloween last year, Blizzard introduced a new mount into the game, a witch’s broom. Micah said he found out later that Blizzard credited Ezra with the idea.

Ezra was supposed to visit Blizzard again this spring but between Blizzard moving to a new headquarters and Ezra’s health, that second trip never happened. My contact at Blizzard said that it’s only a matter of timing and hopefully, the two will connect again soon.

In the meantime, Ezra has lived much longer than doctors initially estimated. He’s matured for sure, said Micah, and he’s been able to expand into other games and activities.

Ezra picked up Ratchet and Clank and, for a while, Smash Bros. Brawl. Last month, Ezra started home instruction through the local school district. He’s also started writing stories again.

“He’s much wiser, much more mature than he was, as you’d expect,” Micah said. “He still does look on the bright side. He’s optimistic and very open. He’s kind and compassionate with people. Sometimes we’ll go to the clinic and he’ll look at some of these younger kids and still feel sorry for them and feels that he’s got it so good because he’s older and he can understand what’s going on. I would have expected him to not be able to empathize with them but feel sorry for himself. ”

But of course, he still makes time to play WoW — the game just isn’t the psychological crutch it used to be.

“Rather than feel sad because he couldn’t go to school and see his friends, he poured all his sadness into playing WoW. I’m really glad that Blizzard did what they did. It fit his needs at the time so well. And then with the outpouring of people’s concern and their e-mails to us. He didn’t read all of those but I did and that was helpful to me. It was such a positive experience,” Micah said.

The Ezra Chatterton archive:

 **Update** Ezra Chatterton passed away on Oct. 20, 2008. Read his father’s tribute HERE.

* Aug. 21, 2008: Ezra Update: WoW fan with cancer suffers stroke
* June 15, 2008:  WoW fan’s cancer spreads but family remains upbeat
*Feb. 29, 2008: Ezra update: Still recovering, playing World of Warcraft
* Sept. 28, 2007: Ezra Update: Warcraft fan has ups and downs
* July 18, 2007: Ezra update: Warcraft fan with cancer turns 11
* June 13, 2007: UPDATE: Condition of Warcraft fan with cancer improves
* May 31, 2007, Big screen for Ezra?
* May 25, 2007: Fund for Warcraft fan with cancer set up
* May 23, 2007: Gamers show their support for Ezra
* May 22, 2007: Images of Ezra’s WoW creations, thanks to Blizzard developers
* May 22, 2007: The original story and slideshow:Blizzard makes WoW wish virtual reality

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