Find Out How This Ordinary Kid Saved Millions Of Lives In San Francisco!

 The Life of Scott family was devastated when they learned their eighteen months old son is diagnosed with blood cancer. It was too much for the family to handle. Things took an unexpected turn when an organization knocked at their door and the ailed boy made a wish. Neither the organization nor his parents had expected such an unusual wish to be coming from him. Find out how his odd desire eventually made him save an entire city.

Small Family

Nick Scott a farmer by profession was living with his family in Tulelake, located at the far end of Northern California. His small family included Natalie, his wife, and two small kid. He along with his family was living a very peaceful life in this peaceful and small settlement with a population not more than of 1,000 people. 

Best Time

Coming back home from work and snuggling with his eighteen-month-old son Miles Scott used to be the best moment of the day for Nick. Likewise one day Miles was cuddling with his parents in bed when his mother saw a lump on his jaw. Naturally, Natalie got worried and took him to the doctor to get it checked. 

Seeing Doctor

Doctor, on the other hand, checked him physically and diagnosed him with an ear infection. However, Nick and Natalie remained doubtful of that as their kid had no symptoms matching that disease. They suspected it was something else and so decided to go for a blood test. The results came after a few weeks of test. It was going to shake them from within.  

Not A Good News

Co-incidentally Natalie was working for the same doctor and when the result came, it became difficult for the doctor to enlight her about her son’s condition. However, Natalie found it out by his expression that something was severely amiss. She was waiting for the doctor to say something and the doctor revealed that Miles was diagnosed with Leukemia.   

Leukemia

Its victim mostly includes children. It begins with the production of white blood cells named lymphocytes present in the bone marrow. The Leukemia cells attack the blood very quickly. Thereafter sprawling to other parts of the body- liver, central nervous system, spleen, liver and lymph nodes.     

Hospitalized

No need to say it was a shocking news for Nick and Natalie both. Suddenly their blissful life had turned into a painful one. As far as Miles was concerned, not being even two years old he was too young to understand the gravity of his disease. His parents immediately admitted him to a hospital in Portland, Oregon to get the treatment started. It was the first time for Miles to get on a plane and that is why he got very scared. To help him to get over the fear Nick lied down with him on the gurney so that they could be tied down together. 

Life Changed

This little kid had his entire life changed! Blood transfusion and chemotherapy became an integral part of his life. Miles was a toddler and going through chemotherapy weeks after weeks was too much to expect from him. However, there was no other way out. The treatment sucked the energy out of him leaving him tired and weak. His immune system got so vulnerable that he needed to be kept away from crowds. There was one thing nobody could keep Miles away .

Favorite Hero

When Miles was not busy with his treatment, he used to watch old episodes of Batman with his father. He loved superheroes and Batman was his favorite among them. He was so enchanted by the superheroes that all he wanted was costumes and toys like them. His mother did never stop him from watching superhero series as she thought it would help him to differentiate between wrong and right.

Harassment

The tedious treatment procedure was harassing him even when it was done. He began to have nightmares making him cry all night. Sadly, he was too little to understand what was going on in his life. Usually, the kids his age are agile and play a lot but he had himself limited to his house as he always stayed too exhausted to go out and run around. 

Miles Has A Wish

Many years passed by with him undergoing chemotherapy to battle leukemia. Owing to his persisting disease, he got qualified to get a present from The Make-A-Wish Foundation. When his parents heard of it, they wasted no time in reaching them out. It was a ray of light in darkness and he was too excited to participate. His parents wasted no time in arranging a meeting with local volunteers for the organization.

Telling The Tale

In the meeting, they informed the volunteers about how their son got diagnosed with leukemia at such a vulnerable age and how courageously he was battling with that since then. No need to say that was an emotional moment with both the parents having their eyes moist with tears. It pulled at the heartstring of volunteers and they turned towards the kid to know more about him.

What Does He want?

Subsequently, volunteers interacted with Miles. He asked him what he wishes for? Miles had to color a picture of that. What he drew was nothing short of a surprise for volunteer and his parents. He made a picture of Batman and the reason behind it was soon going to sweep the floor under their feet. 

Wrong Answer

What exactly he meant by drawing the picture of the fictional character? Did he want a costume like his or a toy? Perhaps he wanted to meet the actor? The answer to all this question is hell no! He wanted something else, something near impossible.

Wishing

He wanted to be a Batman. Now, it put the volunteers in a dilemma as they had never heard of a wish as strange as this. What bothered them more was that how were they going to fulfill this wish? Now as the wish had been made the organization was compelled to fulfill it and the way they chose will stump you.     

Batman and…?

As volunteers failed to find a way to fulfill his wish, the news reached the ears of the CEO of the Bay Area branch of Make-A-Wish, Patricia Wilson. Like others, she too got amazed by his wish but unlike others, she came up with a perfect idea of making Miles’ wish come true. It was going to be the beginning of a rollercoaster the life of Miles was going to set on.   

Executing The Idea

Patricia had everything in her mind. She looked for a person who would impersonate grown-up Batman that will accompany the little Batman that was going to be Miles, and together they would go on an adventure. And it was then that our favorite little hero “Batkid” came into existence. Yeah, it is the same Batkid who took the world by storm. Now the next question was where were they going to execute the plan? 

Search On For Batman

But before finding out the location, it was important to search for the grown-up Batman! Patricia wrote a mail to stunt actor and tech whiz Eric “EJ” Johnston if he would like to play the part of older Batman? When Sue, wife of Eric got the mail she said she has no option but to take up the role of damsel in distress. 

Finding Location

EJ thought that they would have their part of the adventure in a park. However, there was something else going on the mind of Miles’ parents. They wanted their son to see the world outside their small town so they came up with another mind-blowing idea. They decided on taking him to San Francisco. But was it going to be easy to have his wish come true without having any known in the city?

San Francisco’s Finest Volunteers

Patricia got on the work immediately. She sent emails to important position holders of San Francisco. You must be wondering why was she doing this? Well, the little Batkid needed his own Gotham to go on the adventure and in order to build Gotham the consent and support of key profile individuals were needed. Surprisingly, everyone she approached was more than happy to participate in this unique project.

Getting Help

The help was pouring from all corner of the city. Ama Daetz serving as a local branch’s reporter of ABC News came forward to join the mission and so was Greg Suhr. Not only that, Ed Lee, the mayor of San Francisco too took a part in it. Now, the team was ready to set the ball rolling with its team.     

Designing Batkid’s Day

Now all they need was 200 volunteers who would cheer for Batkid by standing on the sidelines at each piece of Batkid’s mission. Along with that Patricia made sure there are two motorcycle escorts only to give the set a real look.

Making It Real

EJ, on the other hand, was very excited about this project. To make the experience feel more real for Miles he designed a glove that projected images, similar to Batman. Everything was going according to plan and they were moving fast pace towards Batkid’s special day. But who was going to be Batkid’s villain?   

The Perfect Bad Guy

Patricia had never thought it would be so easy. The only part that posed a bit of problem was finding out the right villain. Joker was the first choice that came to their mind but he would have been too scary for the 5-year-old boy that is why they settled for Riddler and the Penguin. 

Volunteers Required

They had to recruit more volunteers. Mike Jutan who was roped in to play the role of Penguin put out a post on his Facebook about their plan. His word soon reached the world and then something happened that was not expected. 

Going Viral

EJ’s Facebook Post spread like wildfire! Batkid became the most heard name and his life story turned out to be the most viral story of that time. It was all over the place, on blogs, in news, and a number of websites. His story transcended the boundaries of his country. Suddenly, this little angel became the center of attraction of the world and you know what? It was just the beginning.   

Worldly Reaction

People from all around the world called the team. As if that was not enough, Patricia, EJ, and Mike’s mailboxes got flooded by email conveying love for Batkid. Away from all this, Miles was enjoying his childhood back at his home, Tulelake. 

Batkid Goes Global

Batkid had conquered millions of hearts! People in great number responded positively to volunteer at the event. Not only that, many Batkid fans bought plane tickets to San Francisco, so that they could become a witness of this historic moment. 

Getting Famous

The special day had many exciting surprises for Miles. Make-A-Wish planned a lunch for Miles at a Burger Bar that later on received reservation’s request for seven thousand people for the same day. There were some who began producing Batkid T-shirts. So, what his parents had to say on this.  

Staggering Numbers

When Nick and Natalie heard about the number of people who were planning on attending the event, they went dumbfounded. Thirteen thousand people were going to be a part of Miles’ wish! On the other, Patricia was straining all her nerve to make the event a success. For that, she had to do lots of task along with answering thousands of volunteer requests. It was to see how shy Miles was going to react to that.    

Keeps On Growing

No need to say, Miles’ parents were doubtful about the good execution of plan but Patricia, she was fully confident that the event would turn out to be a big success, after all, there was a great population out looking forward and supporting the event. Interestingly there were many people who offered their own Lamborghinis for a day to be used as a temporary Batmobile. Many more offers were made by the towering personalities!  

Helping Hands

The Twitter too jumped into the bandwagon and came forward to help Make-A-Wish Foundation. The representatives of this giant social site offered help in managing the organization’s Twitter handle in disseminating minute to minute information about the Batkid’s adventurous journey, to his fans.           

Artistic Touches

Who was left on earth who did not want to be a part of this event? Hans Zimmer, who has composed the music of Dark Knight films came out and expressed his desire to give a final touch to the day’s action. He ended up composing Batkid’s soundtrack.

Other Works

The San Francisco Opera was tasked with sewing, measuring and mending of costumes the whole day so that nothing looks fake. Admirably, the opera did it even when they had another show in production simultaneously. Finally, with the joined effort of so many people, Gotham was ready! The only thing left now was to bring the Batkid to his Gotham city.   

Superhero Skills

The little Miles had no idea how much the world was excited to see him as a Batkid! The only thing he knew was that he was going to be Batman and was about to go on a trip to San Francisco. What he did not know was that he needed to learn acrobatics in order to come over the obstacle courses designed for him. It was then the five years old stepped into a gym. Well, that wasn’t a gym to be precise, that was something else.

Not Really A Gym

It was a circus with all the acrobats donning superhero costumes. It looked as if that was the gym where all the other superheroes in the world get its training. Miles enjoyed the session a lot with EJ. However, he did not know till then who EJ was and why was he practicing acrobats.   

Preparing Batkid

It was the night before his special day! Ama Daetz, a prominent journalist from ABC News visited Miles. A major population of San Francisco had crowded the premise of the hotel only to see the would-be Batkid. Ama got surprised when she learned that Miles had no inkling about what was on the horizon. 

Batkid Begins

Eventually came the morning of the most awaited day. It began with Nick and Natalie watching a pre-recorded DVD for Miles. The TV had Ama, the news lady on it, Miles recognized her in one glance but she was saying something! Her tone was weird and she was saying that the police chief wanted to share an important message.

Message

Greg Suhr clarified that he was looking for Batman and for that he needed Batkid’s help. He also mentioned a “damsel in distress.” He requested if anyone could come forward and help her out. That brought the end of the video. Miles was watching that with awe and it was then someone knocked at his hotel door.

Springing To Action

The door opened on the face of Batman! He asked him for help and Batkid leaped into his costume at once. Batman asked Batkid whether he practiced acrobat or not, to which he confidently replied in positive. At that moment, Miles did not know that the man behind the mask was EJ. Thereafter, both the superheroes clattered down the stairs only to see a spectacular scene. The road had amassed thousands of people. The sky was filled with News helicopters flying around over Union Square. On the other side, the Batmobile was roaring from the inside of the hotel’s loading dock. Both the Batman and Batkid jumped into the Batmobile and rushed to save the damsel in distress.

Saving The Damsel In Distress

Batman and Batkid reached damsel in distress by following the directions given by police chief. The lady was bound to a cable car track next to the bomb planted by Riddler. The cable car was moving fast towards her from the other side. They had very little time in hand, so without wasting any, they began untying her. The two finally rescued the lady. The lady embraced and thanked the Batkid. Not to forget the lady in the costume of the damsel in distress was none other than the eminent actress Sue.     

Another Mission Awaits

Batman and Batkid had successfully completed their first challenge. The crowd standing on the side were cheering for them when another challenge came their way. The police chief through a video message informed the duo that Riddler was running amok in a bank some miles ago than them. The pair ran towards the evil in their Batmobile.

Hampering The Heist

The two got into the bank. Batkid had never seen a real-life villain before. Notwithstanding that he was all set to take on the challenge. Batkid tapped a button and trapped Riddler in a vault. This way, Batkid had his first bad guy. The police chief was extremely happy at little Batkid’s big achievement and suggested both of them to go on a lunch. But there was another hurdle waiting for them.   

The Lunchtime Dilemma

Batkid talked a lot with Batman during the lunch at Burger Bar. During the conversation, he admitted that he is too tired to continue as a Batkid. It seemed the end of this beautiful journey was in offing but everything changed when Batkid looked out from the window.  

Second Wind

Miles percieved thousands of fans waiting for him outside the restaurant. They were holding a banner with a message written on it. The SF Giants mascot, Lou Seal had been kidnapped by Penguin. He had taken him to AT&T Park. That made Batkid changed his mind immediately. He braced himself for one more mission and rushed to Batman towards the stadium.      

Showdown At AT&T Park

Firstly, he untied Lou Seal and then he moved towards Penguin to defeat him. He went up the steep stairs following the villain. He managed to overcome smoke bombs and explosions with the help of his acrobatic skills. Lastly, he successfully caught the penguin and made him bite the dust. The police chief gave another message, “go to City Hall.”

Rewarding The Hero

The San Francisco City Hall was filled with local, tourists, and international people. They all had come here to celebrate the day with Miles. Miles climbed up the stairs towards the podium and stood next to Mayor Ed Lee. Mind you, he was a mayor of Gotham not of San Francisco. He gave Batkid the keys to the city. But that was not the end of the thrill.

The Best Announcement

Patricia came on the stage to make a revelation to the people present. She revealed that Miles was done with his chemotherapy and his disease was in remission. The news was cherry on the cake for the public. They were literally jumping with joy. 

International Fame

Batkid got his fan in Hollywood too. Those who previously played Batman Val Kilmer, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Michael Keaton, and Adam West stayed updated about him with twitter live feed and expressed their reactions on social sites. Not only Hollywood but then- President Obama and First Lady Michelle too sent their love to Miles.

Closing The Circle

You may agree that the story of Batkid conveys a message of humanity and unity to the world. Chemotherapy had sucked all the money out of Miles’ family.Despite that, a major part of the fees was yet to be paid but after the Batkid gone viral, all the due expenses got paid by Miles fan. It was a big help for his family!

A Modest Hero

Miles enjoyed the event thoroughly. Though he could not grasp the efforts and planning went in its making. The wish of Miles was finally fulfilled in the most beautiful way. His parents are very much thankful of Patricia and her foundation. San Francisco too had gotten their little hero.