A 20-year-old El Paso man fighting two aggressive forms of cancer that have spread from his brain to his bones is set to spend Saturday night surrounded by family at Sun Bowl Stadium, watching Colombian superstar Karol G perform live. Ezra undergoes chemotherapy almost every day, but his doctor made a rare medical exception, clearing him for travel and public attendance so he could attend the show.
The surprise tickets came together through a chain of local nonprofits working behind the scenes, according to KVIA, which reported that Ezra's family received the tickets on Friday. Ezra's family joined forces with his medical team and Reach For A Star of El Paso to make the concert happen, and the local wish-granting charity secured seats for Saturday's performance. Ezra's father chose the seats himself for the show, and ABC-7 was set to meet Ezra at the hospital on Friday to capture his reaction to the surprise.
Behind that collaboration was Candlelighters of West Texas & Southern New Mexico, the borderland's primary referral network connecting pediatric and young adult cancer families with resources like Reach For A Star. In a social media post, the organization described the effort to help Ezra, writing plainly about the challenge: “Can you help us make Ezra's wish come true?” according to the group's own account of the fundraising push. Candlelighters is the region's sole no-cost nonprofit serving cancer patients from birth to age 25, currently supporting roughly 300 active patients and more than 2,000 registered families.
Two Nights at Sun Bowl Stadium
Karol G's “Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour” lands in El Paso for back-to-back stadium shows on Saturday and Sunday, according to Ticketmaster listings for the two dates. The shows unfold at Sun Bowl Stadium on the UTEP campus, an outdoor venue sitting at 3,910 feet in elevation with a seating capacity of nearly 46,000 spectators, per UTEP Athletics. It stands as El Paso's primary venue for concerts of this scale, drawing tens of thousands to the border city for a rare stadium-sized stop on the tour.
Ezra turns to Karol G's upbeat pop music during his most painful moments of treatment, a coping mechanism that lines up with emerging clinical research on music and pain relief. A September 2026 study led by researchers at Drexel University found that music-based interventions ease physical pain through psychological mechanisms, including positive emotional response, personal control over song choice, and rhythmic synchronization. Separately, clinical trials published in PubMed Central found that 83% of cancer patients using structured music therapy reported measurably less pain intensity, along with reduced anxiety and lower reliance on pain medication.
A Diagnosis That Fits a Larger, Grim Pattern
Ezra's case reflects a broader and sobering national trend. The American Cancer Society estimates that roughly 88,120 adolescents and young adults between 15 and 39 will be diagnosed with cancer nationwide in 2026. Cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related death among young women in that age group and the second-leading cause among young men aged 20 to 39, accounting for about 8,300 deaths each year, the organization reports.
The concert surprise arrives during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a September observance meant to spotlight the fight facing young patients and rally community support behind them. Candlelighters framed its work with Ezra within that larger campaign, noting the timing as part of the month's push to “stand with the” families navigating pediatric and young-adult cancer, according to the organization's own materials. El Paso's charitable and medical community has rallied around cancer patients before, including efforts like the Stronger Than Cancer WOD event held earlier this year in support of a local officer battling the disease.
Whether Karol G or her tour team will arrange any additional recognition for Ezra during Saturday's show, such as a meet-and-greet, remains unknown. For now, the plan is for Ezra to watch the performance from his father-chosen seats, doctor's clearance in hand, surrounded by the family that helped get him there.
