This is a story about superheroes. A boy who wanted to be Batkid and about so many people, who I think are also superheroes, for making it happen.
On Friday San Francisco, California, was turned into Batman’s town, Gotham City. It was all for a a 5-year-old boy, Miles Scott. He has Leukemia (which is a kind of cancer that effects in the blood cells) and it was his dream to become “Batkid”. Make A Wish The Greater Bay Area made it happen in the biggest way. The day was filled with excitement and so many people in the Bay Area volunteered to set up Gotham City and helping Batkid do justice. The idea spread around through the power of social media. People all over the world have now followed Miles the day his wish came true and he was Batkid for the day.
The Make A Wish foundation does amazing things. It’s mission is to grant the wishes of children who have life threatening diseases and to fill them with hope, joy and happiness. The children’s wishes are not wishes like those that are on birthday or holiday wishlists for most kids like video games or a stuffed animal. They wish for bigger things like to become a firefighter or policemen for a day, to go to Disneyworld or, like Miles, to be Batkid for the day and fight crime, save people, bring bad guys to justice and make the city a safe place. Make A Wish does whatever it takes to make children’s wishes come true, so that they and their families have something to look forward to. For Miles, though, there was so much extra support from the city and all over the country.
Every kid loves superheroes and would love to be Batman for a day. Many kids might dress up as Batman, Robin, Spiderman or Superman for Halloween or play Superhero games with their friends, but Miles finally got the chance of a lifetime – he got to be Batkid. When Make A Wish The Greater Bay Area asked Miles what he wishes for, he surprised everyone in the room, including his parents. His answer was “I want to be Batkid!” Ever since October 10th people all around San Fransisco have been organizing this very special day. It just started with a blogger sharing the news, but then it went viral. Citizens have been volunteering to help out for the day whether it’s being part of a flash mob or even being a damsel in distress. The Firefighters helped out, so did the police, San Fransisco’s Football Team 49ers and even the newspaper changed its name to Gotham City Chronicle for the day to make it more real. Everyone contributed to making this day so special for Miles. More than 12 000 volunteers were involved in turning San Francisco into Gotham City so that Miles could save the day. Every single person helped out, and they all together made a big difference.
For Miles, it all got real on November 15th. On the morning news there was the Police Chief saying that there was a damsel in distress with a bomb on a chair and that they need Batman and Batkid’s help! Miles got into a Batman costume and a Batman impersonator was waiting for “Batkid” in a special Batmobile! Batkid and Batman sped off in the Batmobile straight to the damsel in distress and waiting for them there was a big flash mob of people with posters saying “We love Batkid” and people cheering him on! The pair found the woman and saw that this was also The Riddler’s plan, Batkid then quickly freed the woman and successfully shut off the bomb! First mission, complete!
Less than an hour later, Batkid was called to Union Square, where The Riddler was robbing a bank. So, with Batman, Batkid took the villain down and locked him up behind bars, right where he was supposed to be. What a hero! After Batkid had lunch, he saw citizens jumping up and down pleading for Batkid’s help. Lou Seal, Mascot for the Giants, had been captured by the Penguin! The two saw the Penguin and Lou Seal in a car, Lou Seal tied up, needing Batkid to come and save the day! Batkid found Lou Seal tied up and quickly untied him, while Batman went to chase down the Penguin.
At the end of the day, in front of huge crowd, Batkid was presented with the key to the city by the Mayor of San Fransisco. There, Batkid revealed himself as Miles Scott! Everybody cheered “Way to go Miles!” in support of him and the justice he did to Gotham City.
On Friday, it was also a day that Miles could forget that he was battling leukemia, this time he was fighting villains. The experience that this little superhero had is truly unforgettable. Part of the Make A Wish is to give the child something to look forward to. Whenever Miles is scared or having a bad day, he just watches the millions of videos of him disguised as Batkid, and it will make him happy.
It all started with one idea, Miles wanting to be a superhero. When Make A Wish The Greater Bay Area asked for volunteers to help make Miles wish come true, everybody wanted to join in and make this day special for Miles. People in San Francisco wanted to help because it would make Miles feel better and they would be changing someone’s life forever. Everyone also worked together to make everything look and feel so real, everyone put in so much dedication for this because they believed he could have fun and forget about all that he has been through with his leukemia. Everybody who helped out was together part of a community, each role was important, whether it was being part of the crowd while Miles received the key to the city, or being the Penguin while Batkid captures the villain. Miles and his family really will remember Friday forever, especially since now in San Francisco, on November 15th, it’s Batkid Day! For Miles and his family the day really celebrates his life. After more than three years fighting Leukemia and many treatments that kept him in the hospital and made him so weak, he is in remission and on his way to being healthy.
That’s what makes this story even better. Every superhero story needs a happy ending.
There are a lot of people that I would call superheros in San Francisco today.
Heather, Mmm... is for Mommy says
The Batkid story has really reminded me yet again of how much awesome there is in the world 🙂
callmehannah says
Thank you so much Heather! The story is so inspiring, I would love to meet that little Miles Scott one day.