By JOSEPHINE MENDEZ
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — While superheroes from Marvel and DC Comics don’t typically share the spotlight, they made a special exception Thursday, much to the awe and excitement of several children at the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital at Cabell Huntington Hospital.
(Herald-Dispatch photo by Sholten Singer)
First to appear outside the window of a small room packed with patients, parents and caregivers was the Amazing Spider-Man, hanging upside down in his signature move.
“He’s so cool. He’s my favorite,” said 7-year-old Gage Browning, who was also dressed as Spider-Man for this special occasion.
Though superheroes are not ones to expose their secret identities, Melanie Akers, director of the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital, did reveal that these particular superheroes all hailed from MIRC Construction, the company the hospital hires to wash its windows.
Having seen this done at other children’s hospital across the nation, Akers said when she approached representatives from MIRC Construction with the idea of having the window washers dress as superheroes, they were more than willing to trade in their usual work attire for something a little more flashy.
“They thought it would be a great idea and something fun for the children,” Akers said.
Four-year-old Brantley Pruitt could not have been more excited to see his favorite heroes up close as he pressed his hand to the glass window. Though he too favored the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, he was not above giving Iron Man a fist bump and cheering with delight as Superman swooped in.
“I think it’s very, very neat and thoughtful for the kids to make them feel like it’s not a hospital and they’re not sick,” said Brantley’s mom, Stephanie Pruitt, of Lavalette. “It makes the kids feel better about being here because, as children, hospitals are scary.”
While it may seem like the simplest of tasks, Stephanie Cape, child life specialist with the children’s hospital, said it made all the difference for these children, especially for Gage.
“He has been having the hardest time getting up out of bed and his family wasn’t even sure if he was going to be up for coming out here today … Obviously, he was really glad that he did,” she said. “He didn’t even seem as if he was having any trouble at all. Superheroes do that.”
Not only was Gage all smiles, he was happy to share his knowledge about each of the superheroes.
From the web-slinging Spider-Man to the stronger-than-life Hulk, Gage said he knew each of their superpowers and even some of their weaknesses.
“Superman, he’s so strong and nothing can hurt him, except for his weakness, kryptonite,” Gage said.
“Even when a kid is sick, they still feel playful so it’s really important for us to incorporate that into their environment,” she said. “Nobody wants to be in the hospital, particularly a child, but we want to make it the best experience for them as possible while providing all of these kid friendly activities and interactions.”
She added that while Spider-Man and Superman may be recognized as superheroes across the globe, at the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital in Huntington, the real heroes are the children.
“We think our kids are superheroes because they deal with really serious things on a daily basis here in our facility. We want them to know that they are the ones that amaze us every day,” she said.
“And if we can give them a few minutes where they are not thinking about the bad things, then we have done our job well.”
Follow reporter Josephine Mendez on Twitter @JozyMendezHD.
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