You might remember a couple of weeks ago, we brought you the awesome story of Miles, the five-year-old Leukaemia patient whose Make-a-Wish Foundation ruse has become the talk of the interwebs.
If you missed the story, here’s a quick refresher:
Miles.Generally, kids want to go to Disneyland, or they want to meet a celebrity, or receive something they don’t have – a laptop or a backyard playground.
But Miles’ wish was a little bit different. Because he wants to be a superhero. Specifically, he wants to be BatKid.
The Make-a-Wish foundation did something they rarely do: they reached out to the people of San Francisco for help. Happily, they were overwhelmed. Actors are volunteering. Photographers are offering to work for free. Make-up artists, also willing to work for free. The mayor and the fire service are all going to take part.
Because on the 15th November, San Franciso is going to be transformed into Gotham City… and BatKid is going to need to save the day.
Well, do you know what date it is on the other side of the world right now? November 15th.
And, Gotham City should consider itself saved.
Boy, was it saved.
Along with his sidekick, Robin (played by Miles’ super cute little brother), Batkid spent the day making sure that the citizens of Gotham City were safe.
His first point of call was a busy street in San Francisco where he and Batman discovered a woman tied to a mysterious green box on the train tracks!
But, never fear, Batkid – with the help of Batman – managed to get the damsel in distress free and Gotham City was at peace once more:
Throughout the morning Batkid also managed to stop the Riddler from robbing a bank, but just as he’d sat down to have some burgers for lunch, there was a new threat to the city: the Penguin had stolen Lou Seal, the San Francisco Giants’ mascot!
BREAKING: @PenguinSF has kidnapped @SFGiants mascot Lou Seal! Save him, #SFBatkid!!!! They’re headed to AT&T Park! pic.twitter.com/s7UOYMYucC
— Make-A-Wish Bay Area (@SFWish) November 15, 2013
But even the gymnastics obstacle course that had been set up outside of the AT&T stadium wasn’t enough to stop Batkid, who made it over the trampoline and through the climbing equipment to find Lou and let him out of his cage:
Never fear, #SFBatkid‘s here!!!!! @SFGiants, your mascot is safe! You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/3Ei0Z6JuWp
— Make-A-Wish Bay Area (@SFWish) November 15, 2013
And, when all of his hard work was done, Batkid received the keys to the city he had fought so hard to protect:
Yay! RT @nbcnightlynews: PHOTO: #SFBatKid presented with the key to ‘Gotham City’ pic.twitter.com/8fmeoW4O0S
— HuffPostGoodNews (@HPGoodNews) November 15, 2013
The Department of Justice made sure that the Riddler and the Penguin were taken care of:
And, DOJ gets in on the #SFBatKid day, announcing prosecution plans (h/t @jtes): http://t.co/xpckuNF1UM pic.twitter.com/mm5wF3eqSB
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) November 15, 2013
The San Francisco Chronicle even became the Gotham City Chronicle for the day:
Even President Obama was grateful for BatKid’s services:
President Obama’s message to #SFBatKid —> http://t.co/O7J4XWwYBs
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 15, 2013
And DC comics batman artist made sure that Gotham City’s newest hero would be remembered as such:
DC Comics Batman artist does custom #SFBatkid art for Miles! RT @gnolan12 #batkid Hoping Miles’ day is extra special! pic.twitter.com/JC3eT4FEj6
— Lisa Feierman (@lisathefeierman) November 15, 2013
Here are some more of the pictures being shared with the hashtag #SFBatKid to give you an idea of how it all went down:
Top Comments
So awesome!! :D
Also in the paper did you notice that the reporters were Clark Kent and Lois Lane? Lol so good! :D
The entire media attention of this thing does not sit right with me . I can't really explain why- maybe because all us nosey people are jumping onto the emotional band wagon for our emotional feel good factor and not necessarily the child. All those people and crowds and paps- all being nosey into something that should have been nice for that little boy - not a media spectacular. I am not tearing up thinking the world is a lovely place. I am sceptically wondering how many people make real ongoing changes into others lives for more then a day - That is what I find moving- everyday kindness making our communities better places- Not a symbolic nosey media spectacular using a young child for emotional gratification for the masses who will go back to their own self absorbed lives tomorrow.
It was more than nice for that little boy. It was his dream come true. You can choose to be sceptical about it, or you can take it for what it was - a city banding together, to give a little boy who's been incredibly ill a shot at being a superhero. There's plenty in this world to be cynical about. Why add to the list?
I think its really sad that you think that a child is being exploited here. Its the story of a whole city coming together to fulfil the wish of a sick kid and that can only be an awesome thing. All I see is a little boy having an absolute ball and who ever heard of a super hero without an audience? Who's to say that this event wont inspire others to become more altruistic towards others, its happened countless times. Sometimes people need to be given an opportunity to experience the joy in making others happy. In a world where there are so few good news stories why shouldn't this one be shared? We need to be reminded of the good in others every once in a while .
That's a bit presumptuous. How do you know that every one of these volunteers is 'self absorbed'? You don't know the motives or lives of 12, 000 people.
Publicity does not negate the good deed.