Five-year-old Miles Scott has been battling leukemia for several years and was able to fulfill his wish Friday with the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and thousands of strangers.
San Francisco was decorated as Gotham City, and Scott became “Batkid.” Volunteers played roles in set crime stages to make Scott’s dream come to life. Spectators followed Batkid throughout the day, cheering on his victories against crime.
Batkid was called by San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr to help fight crime. He was then escorted as he drove in a black Lamborghini with a Batman actor.
First, Batkid rescued a woman from the cable car tracks at Nob Hill. Then, he captured the Riddler from robbing a downtown bank. Finally, Batkid made it to AT&T Park where he saved Giants mascot Lou Seal from a penguin kidnapper.
After Batkid had corralled all the “bad guys,” he was then granted the key to the city by Mayor Ed Lee.
Batkid became an inspiration in the media and he has attracted fans all around the world. He even got the White House’s attention in a tweet that said, “Go get ‘em Batkid.”
Scott was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 18 months old and his treatments just ended in June.
Thanks to the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Scott was able to have the dream of many 5-year-old boys fulfilled.
His father, Nick Scott thanked all of the people involved and said, “All the doctors, nurses and all other parents that have to deal with the same thing we’re going through…I hope they get a conclusion to their illnesses like we’re getting.”
The Make-A-Wish Foundation has fulfilled the wishes of members of the Carlmont community as well.
Carlmont student Zac Miller was diagnosed with myxopapillary ependymoma, which is a type of cancerous tumor in the spinal canal effecting your central nervous system.
Since Miller faced a life threatening disease, he was referred to the Make-A-Wish program.
“I asked to visit and have a tour of the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii while it was active. I got to stay there for a week with my mom and favorite uncle Tommy,” said Miller.
Miller said, “My make a wish experience was one to remember, all of the ‘genies’ (thats what they call themselves) were so sweet, understanding, and respectful. They made me feel loved and happy in a time of despair.”
Miller was in remission in April 2010 after being diagnosed in Dec. 2009. To make sure the cancer hasn’t come back, Miller needs to continually get checkups on his brain and spine.
Miller said, “When I heard about the Batkid event going on in the City I was truly touched to the extent they were going to [in order to] to fulfill Miles’ dream. It made me feel so happy and excited for him. I want to be apart of something like that to help pay it forward. Put good on to others like they put good onto me.”
The Make-A-Wish foundation said, “We believe that a wish experience can be game-changer.”
If you are interested in donating to help children like Miles have their wishes fulfilled, visit http://wish.org/.
