IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Pleasant Valley community is showing support for one of its own.
At just 15 years old Parker Kress made the difficult decision to amputate his leg.
"He's stayed positive pretty much the entire time," said Kristin Dumser, Parker's mom.
Parker was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago, that lead to an infection in his leg. It was back in October 2016, when doctors first planned to remove his leg. But four days before the surgery, the infection miraculously seemed to be gone. There was no longer a need for the surgery.
However, the celebration wouldn't last long; a recent CT scan showed the infection was back.
On March 28th, 2017 Parker had the surgery. After a two and a half hour surgery, his right leg below the knee is gone.
"When he woke up he was laughing and cracking jokes, he`s on some pretty good medication," said Dumser.
The news actually came as sort of a relief for Parker. To him the amputation meant he could possibly still do the things he loves, like sports.
"It kind of was like a blessing in disguise because like he actually realized the amputation would work better for him and he would be able to run and play sports again with a prosthetic," said Dumser.
While Parker recovers in the hospital, back at his home his PV family showed their support. Students wore their yellow "Power for Parker" shirts.
"I`m glad the school is supporting him now and they`re going to be supporting him in the future," said Evan Wilson, a friend.
It's that support that is helping Parker and his family get through the hard days now and the hard days that lie ahead.
"Its been great to know so many care," said Dumser.
Doctors expect Parker to be able to go home at the end of the week. In a month he'll get fitted for his prosthetic leg.
Parker's mom says he is even thinking about looking into the Paralympics.