By Nathan Grant ’16, News Section Editor
Today, seven-year-old Miles Scott is known as “Batkid.” From northern California, Scott is a cancer survivor. At 18 months of age, Scott was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Growing up, Scott dreamed of being a superhero. On November 15, 2013, Scott’s dream came true.
While receiving chemotherapy, Scott told the Make-A-Wish Foundation that what he wanted, more than anything else, was to be “Batkid.” He was fascinated with Batman, and he explained that “superheroes always won” at the end of the day.
To help Scott realize his dream, thousands of volunteers, city officials, and businesses worked together to transform San Francisco into Batman’s home town of “Gotham City.” The event was made possible by a social media marketing agency which sent out emails a month prior to the event, asking for supporters and volunteers. The night before the event, more than 12,000 volunteers had signed up to make “Batkid Day” a reality.
On November 15, 2013, after receiving his last chemotherapy treatments, Scott traveled to San Francisco under the assumption that his family was taking him to buy a Batman costume. While Scott and his family were watching TV in their hotel room, a flash alert appeared from the San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr, asking Scott, now “Batkid,” for help.
A Batmobile with a police escort then arrived at the hotel. When “Batkid” entered the black Lamborghini, he met volunteer Eric Johnston, who was dressed as Batman. Johnston informed “Batkid” that they had a mission: To help a “damsel in distress,” who was tied up on the train tracks of the San Francisco cable cars. When Batman and “Batkid” arrived at the scene, they disabled a plastic replica of a bomb and then untied the woman from the tracks.
Thousands of people cheered “Batkid” as he saved the city. But the day wasn’t over yet. After saving the woman, “Batkid” received an electronic message from the police chief, informing him that the Penguin had just captured San Francisco Giants’ mascot Lou Seal. After running through a series of obstacle courses, “Batkid” found the Penguin in his “lair” and freed Lou Seal.
At the end of his adventure, Scott was taken to City Hall where the mayor gave him a key to the city. In addition, Scott received a tweet from President Barack Obama, who thanked Scott for saving the day.
Organizations like Make-A-Wish have helped many children like Scott. They have given these children a chance to forget their differences and live happy – and in this case, extremely adventurous – lives.
To learn more about Scott and his exciting adventure, watch the documentary Batkid Begins, available on iTunes today.
Sources:
Warner Brothers. (2015). Batkid Begins Documentary. Retrieved from Batkid Begins: http://batkidbegins.com/
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Batkid. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batkid
Image Source: http://sequart.org/magazine/34527/reflections-on-batkid/
