5-year-old Miles Scott saved Gotham City in his secret identity as Batkid while cheered on by thousands of cheering Gothamites. The young boy, who has been battling leukemia since he was 18 months old, was granted his wish to become a superhero by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who helped turn San Francisco into Gotham City...complete with supervillains and a SWEET Lamborghini Batmobile.
Batkid defused a bomb tied to a lady on the cable car tracks, thwarted the Riddler's bank robbery plans, rescued San Francisco Giants mascot Lou Seal from the Penguin, and received the key to the city. With virtually the entire city of San Francisco in on the game, from the police chief to the mayor to approximately thirteen thousand residents (not to mention a message from President Obama!), Batkid's triumph was complete. Batkid's secret identity, Miles Scott, is currently in remission, proving that he can take on far tougher foes than a couple of Gotham City supervillains.
He even got the stamp of approval from current movie Batman, Ben Affleck:
Batkid. Best Batman ever. #SFBatKid#MakeAWish@SFWish— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) November 16, 2013
There's something to be said here about the power of superheroes to inspire us to be our most selfless and courageous...but that's for another time (as it's tough to type through all these tears of happiness). For now, revel in Batkid's triumphs with him, and sleep a little better knowing that Gotham City is safer today than it was yesterday. Information on how to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who assisted Batkid in his tireless crusade for justice, can be found here.
The folks at the San Francisco Chronicle (who even produced a commemorative "Gotham City Chronicle" edition by award-winning journalists like Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Brenda Starr, and Perry White) have plenty of photos and video from Batkid's day!
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