Make-A-Wish Foundation Turns San Francisco Into Gotham for 5-Year-Old Batkid

SAN FRANCISCO – Meet the Bay Area’s Caped Crusader. He’s five years old, likes to wear costumes, loves superheroes, and his secret identity is Miles. Since he was one, he has also been fighting leukemia. When the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked him what he wanted, he said his one wish was to fight crime, just like his hero Batman. So today, Miles — aka Batkid — got his wish when thousands of people showed up in San Francisco and turned it into Gotham City.

First Miles rescued a “damsel in distress” from one of San Francisco’s – sorry, Gotham’s – famous cable cars. Then he stopped the Riddler from robbing a bank vault and chased down the Penguin after he apprehended the Giants’ mascot Lou Seal. Finally, he was awarded a key to the city by mayor Ed Lee. All the while thousands of fans cheered him on in the city streets and online.

Miles is one of the scores of young people with life-threatening illnesses that the nonprofit Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish for each year. But while his request to become a superhero wasn’t entirely unheard of, the online response to it was. In fact, Patricia Wilson – the executive director of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area – said that in 15 years with her organization she’d never seen anything like it, and she grants some 350 wishes per year.

“This wish has taken off and definitely taken me by surprise – we’re in the shock-and-awe part of this … it’s unprecedented,” Wilson said in an interview with WIRED on Thursday. “This is social media at its best.”

In a way, Miles’ request seems tailor-made for a viral story: a 5-year-old with leukemia who wants to become a superhero in a tech-friendly city that loves costumes and fabulous parties. So it’s no wonder that soon after Make-A-Wish asked for volunteers to help with its San-Francisco-to-Gotham transformation, the word spread like gangbusters. It hit reddit and local blog SFIst. It made BuzzFeed. Eventually, Wilson was fielding calls from everyone from Adam West to Twitter. MC Hammer tweeted about it. Batman artist Graham Nolan drew him into a piece of original art. Tons of people voiced support in photos on a Facebook page organized by someone in New Jersey. “I can’t even look at that anymore, it brings me to tears each time,” Wilson said. Some fans even 3-D printed Batarangs. Wilson hoped 200 people would come; ultimately, more than 12,000 RSVP’d.

“This one has taken on a life of its own with how viral it went and how many people got involved,” Wilson said. “Quite frankly, I think it’s because it’s San Francisco. I don’t think that could happen anywhere else. … Let’s face it, we love a good excuse for a celebration.”

And celebrate, they did. In the heart of a city that never needs an excuse to nerd-out or dress up,thousands came out Friday to cheer on Batkid as he answered calls for help. Rolling around in a Lamborghini tricked out with Batman insignias, Miles was greeted at each of his stops by hundreds of people, many of them hoisting “Thanks Batkid” signs and hoisting smartphones for the perfect Instagram shot, while chanting “Batkid! Batkid!” in unison. Online he got support thanks to the Twitter hashtag #SFBatkid and messages like, “hope Ben Affleck is taking notes on #sfbatkid. kids’ got the scowl and walk down pat.”