Friday morning, Police Chief Greg Suhr (aka Commissioner Gordon) sent out a distress call to the Batcave, asking Batman to “bring the BatKid” to rescue the city from the dastardly evil doers. The caped crusaders, always at the ready, jumped into the Batmobile and sped off only to be greeted by thousands of worried citizens patiently awaiting the arrival of our super heroes.
The Penguin and The Riddler had laid siege against the helpless people of Gotham City in another one of their evil plots. Who would rescue them from the horrible works of these criminals?? Who will protect them from these spoilers of truth, freedom, and the American way?
BatKid!? That’s who!
After a ride in the Batmobile, BatKid rescued a damsel in distress. The unfortunate woman had been strapped to one of The Riddler’s bombs and tied to cable car tracks, but BatKid made short work of her bindings and managed to rescue her before the cable car was able to do any harm.
Sorry, lady. One hug, but then I have more people to save!
BatKid managed to get a few bites for lunch only to be called upon again to rescue San Francisco Giants’ mascot Lou Seal who had been kidnapped by The Penguin.
No time to spare. More evil to stop!
Thanks to the combined efforts of our Superheroes and the police chief, who ordered his men to follow BatKid’s instructions, Gotham City has once again been saved and our Supervillians have been indicted. BatKid has made sure that the people of Gotham City have seen justice prevail again.
Riddler & Penguin – Indictment
So who was this miniature masked marvel?
Five year old Miles Scott was diagnosed with leukemia when he was only 2 years old. Although currently in remission, for literally more than half his life — Miles has been fighting for his life while his childhood swiftly passed by. When the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked him what one wish he wanted, his only request was that he could be a super hero. His wish was finally granted.
In a huge undertaking that surpassed anything the Make-A-Wish Foundation has ever done, they managed to turn the city of San Francisco into Gotham City for a single day with the help of many, many volunteers. This allowed Miles to take on the persona of BatKid and his younger brother and cohort to become The Boy Wonder, Robin.
Normally, Make-A-Wish usually grants trips to Disney World or a meet and greet with a favorite celebrity. This time, with changing cultures and times, they took on a more ambitious undertaking and found more than enough people willing to help. Expecting only hundreds to show up for the event to cheer Miles on, overwhelmingly more than 7,000 supporters and onlookers showed and cheered their support for him.
As Miles came into the city, courtesy of the Batmobile, heroes, villains, and helpless citizens alike roared and chanted for him.
“BAT-KID! BAT-KID! BAT-KID!”
Not only did Miles live out his wish, but the city of San Francisco went nuts in the hope of sharing in the childhood of one little boy. Meanwhile, as Miles was rescuing the damsel in distress, he became an Internet viral sensation as news of the BatKid crept into every major mainstream news outlet. Social networking and online news blew into a firestorm of pictures and videos relishing in Miles’ joy. There was so much outpouring of support for Miles that the website for Make-A-Wish was forced to shut down because of the incredible number of inquiries.
Even President Obama took a break from his Super Hero duties to Vine a message to Miles.
You can also read the Twitter feed from The White House for that day, here.
At the end of the day, our young superhero was forced to retire and get to bed for some sleep, but not before being awarded the key to the city.
Kids are amazing, and the things we do for them never quite measure up to what they actually deserve, but what the city of San Francisco and what the thousands of supporters did for him will never be forgotten. Wouldn’t it be nice to walk away from this with the knowledge that everything can be accomplished in this same way?
Wherever you lay your head tonight, remember that thanks to Make-A-Wish there is a BatKid signal over Gotham City.
Click here to find ways you can help Make-A-Wish.
See more of Miles’ story here.
You can see more pictures and video of the spectacle from The San Francisco Chronicle, aka The Gotham City Chronicle.
Top Image courtesy of Raphael Kluzniok/The San Francisco Chronicle
