Make-A-Wish Turns San Francisco Into BatKid's 'Gotham City'

Just wanted to share this amazing story of a city coming together and going to the utmost extreme to make a little boy's dream a reality. Nice break from the negative.

The whole world is tuning in to one of the most elaborate Make-A-Wish scenarios ever seen, as the city of San Francisco has turned into Batman's Gotham City and made a 5-year-old cancer patient into a superhero. The Make-A-Wish Foundation enlisted more than 7,000 volunteers, including local police, city officials, and the news media to help a young boy named Miles transformed himself into Batkid and San Francisco into Gotham, for a day of adventure including some heroic "rescues." Miles' little brother is filling in as Robin, and his dad is playing the larger sized Batman.

www.theatlanticwire.com...

I'm amazed at the amount of people involved in this event. All of this for one child. If that doesn't make the kid feel better about his situation, then nothing can. They clearly put in an large amount of effort into this event. It's quite impressive.

Awesome!

Just fricken awesome! Go bat kid.

reply to post by technical difficulties


Exactly. I posted it because it shows how above and beyond most people will go to help because they know how enjoyable it can be. These kinds of situations force people to get out of their own heads.

Its a nice story for this one kid but I have a feeling that the thousands of other children suffering from terminal illness, who will not receive a wish, probably view this and think even less of themselves.

Kinda not fair to them.

I'm certainly glad this one child enjoyed his caped crusade however.

reply to post by Spookybelle


The Make A Wish foundation goes out of their way to make children's dreams come true - every single one - you just have to ask.

They can't however go searching on their own. You do have to ask - guess that is a problem for some and I'm guessing that's your point?

Maluhia
reply to post by Spookybelle

 

The Make A Wish foundation goes out of their way to make children's dreams come true - every single one - you just have to ask.

They can't however go searching on their own. You do have to ask - guess that is a problem for some and I'm guessing that's your point?

I am very involved with the Make-A-Wish-Foundation and donate not only my money but my time to help support them. This is why I know that they receive many more requests than they can actually fill and very rarely do they get the opportunity to do what happened to this lucky young man.

Although every child is given something, I have helped deliver them, sometimes wishes are simply more than can be accomplished so it concerns me that a young child seeing this dream come true may set their sights on something that simply is not possible and have their little hearts disappointed.

I would prefer for the foundation not to do such extreme things only for this reason, although I certainly would not want to take away from what this boy received it does make me feel for the other children.

reply to post by Spookybelle

Although every child is given something, I have helped deliver them, sometimes wishes are simply more than can be accomplished so it concerns me that a young child seeing this dream come true may set their sights on something that simply is not possible and have their little hearts disappointed.

All I can say is thank you for the eye-opening first hand experience. Now, I'm disturbed, because I thought this was one organization that actually got it right.

Oy, publicity for their cause - $$$. Ok duh! Stupid girl going to shower off the duped.

Just like the Red Cross.

Shameful, but the fact that people are willing to go to extremes to help is still heartening.

Maluhia
reply to post by Spookybelle

 

Although every child is given something, I have helped deliver them, sometimes wishes are simply more than can be accomplished so it concerns me that a young child seeing this dream come true may set their sights on something that simply is not possible and have their little hearts disappointed.

All I can say is thank you for the eye-opening first hand experience. Now, I'm disturbed, because I thought this was one organization that actually got it right.

Oy, publicity for their cause - $$$. Ok duh! Stupid smart girl going to shower now.

They are an extremely generous organization and I have nothing, absolutely nothing but positive things to say about them. Please do not misinterpret me.

Many children are given wonderful gifts that help them with their situation to make it easier I only wish that every child could be given that trip to Disneyland or a visit from their favorite sports hero, or that every child could ride around a city playing Batman.

If anyone in the world deserves something good, they do. Breaks my heart that I can't give each one of them that.

reply to post by Maluhia


I was getting ready for work and seen this on Sky News this morning. I think its awesome how everyone came together and let this little crime fighter be Batman for a day.

It goes to show that people on this earth do care for others and i hope that little kid had a day to remember..

reply to post by Spookybelle

They are an extremely generous organization and I have nothing, absolutely nothing but positive things to say about them. Please do not misinterpret me.

Oh, thanks for clarifying - I did misinterpret. Faith restored.

reply to post by Spookybelle


I do understand your point however I think when stories like this go viral, it tends to encourage people to get involved and want to do more.

very proud of our city and its people. our world needs many more of these stories of communities coming togethet like this. it rstores hope. would have been very cool if they could have got christian bale, val kilmer, michael keaton, and adam west to participate

I saw this on the TV News and thought it was wonderful.
THIS is what people should be doing for each other.
The folks in San Francisco really came together and set a good example for us all.

reply to post by blackthorne


I'm proud of your city too. They did an awesome job and look like they had a lot of fun. Very inspiring.

There is more to this than you think.

What an amazing thing to do.

reply to post by Spookybelle


I was a Make-A-Wish kid several years ago when I was 15. They are an amazing organization that does try to do as much as they can to help fulfill any wish. But just like any other organization, they are limited by the amount of donations they receive. I think because I was older, they were honest with me about being realistic. They never came out and said anything about the costs associated with trips, but in our first meeting they really stressed that I was limited to what my doctor would approve (so safaris to the southern part of Africa weren't an option, for example). My parents would have never let me ask for something as grand as that though. They taught me right, and so my wish was a trip to Washington, D.C. I had never been, and as someone who wishes to travel the world, I feel its important to see my own country before I can truly appreciate traveling to another country. My time in DC was a wonderful, week-long trip. I was given so many opportunities that I would have never had without the organization. So for that, I am truly grateful to them and for what they do for kids.

reply to post by OneFreeMan


You have piqued my curiosity - did they catch the real riddler?

I don't know how it works in other countries but in the UK there are several wish granting charities and between them no child to my knowledge goes without a wish. Because my daughter was diagnosed with a life threatening illness I have come into contact with many families over the years who have approached one of these charities and I don't know of a single family who was left disappointed!

My daughter was taken to Lapland with "When You Wish Upon A Star" childrens wish granting charity when she was 8 and still receiving chemotherapy. They take planes out there every year in December. This doesn't even count as a "personal wish" and children are still eligible to make their own wish besides.
My daughter had her wish granted by a charity called "Starlight" and they went way above and beyond any expectations she had!

Although this little boys wish may be more extravagant than most probably hope for I don't see this as negative in anyway. Lots of the wishes that children make rely on things more than money and funding can buy....the help and goodwill of the people! It seems that San Francisco got this right. It should be a wake up call to raise the bar for these children because they most certainly deserve it! Hopefully the publicity off this may inspire more people to donate or get involved.

I applaud the people of San Francisco and more importantly I applaud this little boy.He is a hero in more ways than he realises, a fact I'm sure his family are very aware of.