Batkid to the Rescue!
We just can’t stand it! We love this story so much we want to share it with everyone we know – and even those we don’t!
Miles is 5 years old. When Miles was 18 months old he was diagnosed with leukemia. After completing his last rounds of chemotherapy treatments, he was granted a wish from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. According to the Make-a-Wish Foundation website
A wish comes true helps children feel stronger, more energetic, more willing and able to battle their life-threatening medical conditions. For many, the wish marks a turning point in the fight against their illnesses. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals say, the wish experience works in concert with medicine to make their patients feel better emotionally and even physically. That is why wishes matter. That is why we grant wishes.
Miles wanted to be a super hero. Miles wished to be Batkid.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation along with many other civic volunteers and with the pro bono work of Clever Girls Collective, turned San Francisco into Gotham City. Batkid and Batman drove around in the sweetest Batmobile ride ever and out tricked the villain tricksters, the Riddler and the Penguin, rescued a damsel in distress, and stopped the Penguin from kidnapping the San Francisco Giants seal mascot. As his reward for a full day of superhero work, Batkid received the key to the city from the mayor of San Francisco. (Do you not LOVE this!)
The city and the entire country were cheering him on. This event brought the community of San Francisco and even the internet a little bit closer for this beautiful boy. 20,000+ people showed up to see Miles get his key to the city, over 600,000 tweets across Twitter even personal messages from the White House, celebrities and rock stars came streaming in. The Make-a-Wish website received 1,000 hits per second, causing the site to crash.
It was epic.
Even President Obabma sent a Vine message for Batkid!
This is a powerful yet simple story of a boy and his wish. Great stories like these need to be told and retold because it’s the human story that moves people and unites us all together.
The power of social media to help make Batkid go viral is also a great story that needs to be mentioned.
Check out the Inside The Social Media Strategy That Made Batkid Go Viral.