Little Luis Villanueva has endured more health challenges in the past six months than most kids ever do. In late June, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. During chemotherapy, he contracted pneumonia, then the H1N1 virus.

And all this occurred while his family was living in a shelter for victims of domestic abuse, shielded from the man who had beaten his mother while she was pregnant with his baby brother.

Luis was ``like a little worn rag in the hospital bed,'' says his mother, Flor de Maria Copaira, tears welling in her eyes. ``He just lay there.''

Though he is still undergoing chemotherapy -- and will for the next 2 ½ years -- Luis behaves like any 3-year-old during a visit to a park, climbing the jungle gym and befriending other children. His mother removes the red baseball cap that hides the wisps of hair sprouting from his almost-bald head but leaves the protective mask covering his nose and mouth firmly in place.

After a few minutes, he returns to the bench where Copaira, a native of Peru, is sitting with her younger son, 11-month-old Adrian Copaira. Luis climbs onto her lap, red-cheek and breathing heavily.

``He is doing so much better,'' she says, stroking the boy's face, ``but he still tires very easily. Mostly he sits at home looking through books or watching TV and movies.''

That is why Luis would like a television this holiday season. The one the family owns flickers so much he misses half the shows he enjoys.

``He is very content with whatever you give him,'' his mother says. ``You hand him a pencil and he's happy with that. It's his nature.''

Timidly, Luis says he also likes Spiderman. Any toy or video relating to the superhero would be welcomed, too -- as would clothing and shoes.

``This family is really a very needy case,'' says Lee Klein, founder of the Children's Cancer Caring Center, who nominated them for The Miami Herald's Wish Book. ``When school started, Flor had no money to buy clothes or supplies.''

Klein, whose nonprofit is helping with Luis' treatment and incidental expenses, says a computer and educational games would also benefit the boy and his siblings.

In addition to Adrian, Luis has a 10-year-old sister, Camila Villanueva. When Klein's organization supplied money for her school clothes, the fifth-grader wrote Klein a thank-you note that read, in part, ``My guardian angel is you.''

``It brought tears to my eyes,'' Klein says. ``She was so grateful, her mother was so grateful.''

For the past year the family has been living at an undisclosed address, fearful of Adrian's father. Before moving in with him, Copaira had worked at various jobs, living modestly but managing to support her two children. Her boyfriend ``seemed to really be interested in Camila and Luis.''

But soon after the move, his behavior changed, she said. He took away her cellphone and didn't allow her to go anywhere alone. He called her names. He told her she would end up living under a bridge with her children. What bothered Copaira most, she says, was how he would pick on Camila.

``There was this constant tension. When he arrived from work at 5 p.m., that's when the torment would begin. I had peace only when he was gone.''

The first time he hit Copaira, across the arm, she dismissed it. But after an argument one night, he punched her several times, including on her belly. While he was at work the next day, she gathered a few items of clothing for her children and sought help at a police station. There were no beds at local shelters, so she stayed with a friend for three months until space opened up.

In early summer, Luis began showing signs of illness. ``I noticed that his activities were more sedentary and he slept a lot,'' Copaira says. ``But he has always been a quiet, calm boy so I thought it might be a phase.''

One weekend he developed a temperature, something his pediatrician dismissed as viral. But when he started to shake uncontrollably, Copaira called fire-rescue. At the emergency room, doctors told her Luis had to be hospitalized for further tests. Two days later, a specialist said he should start cancer treatment immediately.

``When they told me Luis had leukemia, it was as if I couldn't hear,'' Copaira says. ``My mind couldn't think. I couldn't feel my body. It seemed so surreal.''

During the two months that Luis was hospitalized, Copaira moved into Baptist Hospital with baby Adrian. Camila, whom Copaira calls ``my right hand,'' stayed on at the shelter and joined them on weekends. Since his release, complications have sent him back to the hospital for days at a time.

``If somebody had told me that this would happen to me, to all of us, I wouldn't have believed it,'' Copaira says. ``But we are a very close family and we will get through this. I know God has a plan, and I know we'll be able to survive this.''