Batkid, Miles Scott, Saves The Day In San Francisco While Battling Leukemia
On Friday, the city of San Francisco gave 5-year-old Miles Scott a day most kids only dream about and one he will never forget. The Bay Area teamed up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to give the young boy, who is in remission from leukemia, a day to put aside his condition by transforming into none other than Batkid.
"This wish has meant closure for our family and an end to over three years of putting toxic drugs in our son's body," Batkid’s mom Natalie told KGO-TV.
Miles’ day started when he got a call from Police Chief Greg Suhr to tell the new superhero that the city needed his help. After partnering with a real life Batman, Miles put on his Batsuit, got into the Batmobile, and hit the streets to round up some villains. When the heroic duo showed up to Hyde Street they had their work cut out for them.
A “damsel in distress” who was gagged and attached to a cable car looked to be in serious need of Batkid’s help judging by the dynamite attached to her body. Thankfully, Batkid and Batman were able to leap over a trampoline and free the damsel before the fake explosives could cause any damage, NBC Bay Area reported. Batkid would soon learn his day was only beginning.
Following the dramatic rescue in front of a crowd of onlookers, Batkid sped over to a local bank to thwart a robbery in progress. The bank robber? Batman’s longtime nemesis, the Riddler. The superhero’s took care of the supervillain and left him for the San Francisco police department. All that crime fighting sure did work up an appetite.
Lunch at Burger Bar was cut short when a flash mob informed Batkid that Lou Seal, beloved mascot of the San Francisco Giants, had been kidnapped by the infamous Penguin. Batkid chased the Penguin throughout AT&T Park before finding Seal tied up. For all his heroic actions throughout the day, Batkid was invited back to City Hall by Police Chief Suhr where Mayor Ed Lee offered him the key to the city, an honor he graciously accepted.
"We come from a very small town, 1,000 people, where it's nothing like this," Batkid’s dad Nick Scott told KGO-TV. "The scale this big is just overwhelming for us. It's nothing we ever dreamed of."
Friday’s events were made possible by over 10,000 volunteers who responded to a request from Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area Foundation representative Patricia Wilson. "He wanted to be Batman. I thought I could do it on a scale that a 5-year-old would appreciate," Wilson told the San Francisco Chronicle. "But apparently, it's on a scale now that the nation appreciates. I've never seen anything go viral like this, with the outpouring of support from across the world."
Follow Batkid’s story on the San Francisco Chronicle’s special edition of the “Gotham City Chronicle.”