‘Batkid,’ Who Got To Be Batman For A Day In San Francisco, Is Now Cancer-Free
On November 13, 2013 — five years ago on Tuesday of this week — the city of San Francisco came together to help a 5-year-old boy with leukemia get his wish.
Miles Scott, who is now 10-years-old, is now cancer-free and has been in remission for those past five years. On that day, however, Scott wasn’t just a regular kid battling a terrible disease. With the help of the city and tens of thousands of volunteers, Scott became “Batkid,” a caped crusader who wanted to fight injustice in Gotham City.
With the help of the Make-A-Wish foundation, Scott’s dream came true. He battled bad guys like the Riddler, helped rescue hostages on the street, and even got the key to the city from the late Mayor of San Francisco Ed Lee, with at least 20,000 in attendance watching him as he did, according to reporting from Fox News. Even former President Barack Obama got involved, sending Scott a video message of support for “Batkid.”
The wish that was granted to Scott was indeed a truly special day for him and his family. It helped a great deal, too, for the foundation that helped put it together. So, even after his day of heroics was over, “Batkid” was still a hero months after.
“It was an incredibly powerful boost to our organization. Batkid was responsible for that,” Jen Wilson, a Make-A-Wish director who helped organize Scott’s event, said.
Batkid is now cancer-free. The boy whose one wish was to be a superhero has been in remission for 5 years ?? pic.twitter.com/3TJQZeWmIo
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) November 15, 2018
Now at age 10, Scott is just like any other typical fifth-grader. He likes robotics and science and plays Little League baseball. He helps his family out on their farm and has worked hard to sell his first goat at a local fair, according to reports from Fox KTVU.
Scott once needed daily doctor visits to ensure his cancer was under control. Nowadays, those visits are down to once per year.
Five years out, Scott and his family say that the gift from the city, from volunteers, and from the Make-A-Wish foundation meant a great deal to them.
“This wish meant closure for our family and an end to over three years of putting toxic drugs in our son’s body,” Scott’s mother Natalie said, per reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Make-A-Wish foundation has 60 chapters across the United States. Each year, the foundation grants 15,000 wishes to children who are battling critical illnesses, allowing them to have their dreams come true as they and their families fight battles against a long list of diseases.
