The Slatest

The Make-A-Wish Foundation Will Turn San Fran Into Gotham For a 5-Year-Old Boy. It’s Going to Be Amazing.

Five-year-old Miles will don his child-sized cape and cowl later this month

Photo courtesy of Make-A-Wish

Note to self: Make sure to bring a box of tissues to work on Friday, Nov. 15 because it’s going to get a little dusty for anyone with an Internet connection. That’s because that’s the day that the Make-A-Wish foundation is set to pull off its latest heartwarming mini-miracle by helping a five-year-old boy with leukemia live out his dream of being a super hero.

As that last sentence suggests, the wish-granting plan sounds like it’s going to be amazing—and judging by the press coverage it’s getting already, it is likely to dominate each and every one of your social media feeds, if it’s not already. Here, I’ll let the foundation explain the basics:

Miles may only be 5 years old but he is fighting a very adult battle, one that we hope he will win. Miles has leukemia. He is a bright, positive, little boy who finds inspiration in super-heroes. When we interviewed Miles for a wish, he surprised even his parents: Miles wants to be Batkid!

On November 15th, Miles will get his wish! The day will begin with a breaking news story. San Francisco’s Police Chief will ask if anyone knows the whereabouts of Batkid. The city needs his help to fight crime and capture villains! Our little Batkid, along with The Caped Crusader, will be ready to answer the call!

(I’m not normally one for PR exclamation points, much less press releases, but I’m more than willing to make an exception this time.) 

It only gets better from there. The plan is for Miles—who I really hope isn’t reading this!*—to rescue a damsel-in-distress from cable-car tracks, catch one super villain in the act of robbing a downtown bank vault, and then stop another from kidnapping a beloved local mascot. To cap it off, Mayor Edwin Lee will present Miles with the key to the city in front a flashmob-like group of volunteers that, the foundation hopes, may be in the thousands when all is said and done. Those not on hand will be able to follow along online with videos and photos taken by the foundation and spectators. The whole thing promises to be a super-sized, real-time version of Caine’s Arcade.

Those of you in the Bay Area can find more information about the schedule, and where you can participate, over at the local Make-A-Wish Foundation’s website.

*See, slammers are contagious, they even have me doing it now!

***Follow @JoshVoorhees and the rest of the @slatest team on Twitter.***