This is a wonderfully heart-warming story about a boy who lives out the dream of becoming a superhero for a day. Erik Martin, a thirteen year-old boy living with liver cancer, got his wish answered with the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle, Washington.
For Erik, April 29th started like any other, but his day took an extraordinary turn when Spider-Man called on him at school. Spidey was one of the few people on earth to know Erik’s secret identity as a crime-fighting superhero called Electron Boy, who “fights the powers of evil with light”. On this day, Spider-Man needed Electron Boy’s help.
Here was the predicament: Villains named Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy had taken the Seattle Sounders football (that’s soccer, not pigskin) team prisoner in a locker room at Qwest Field.
Donning his red and blue superhero costume, Erik along with Moonshine Maid traveled to Qwest Field in a DeLorean escorted by twenty-five motorcycle officers of the Bellevue Police Department, King County and Snohomish sheriff’s offices. For this escort, local highways were even cleared for their path. Moonshine Maid (aka Misty Peterson) was amazed at the effort:
“They shut down 405 — they shut down I-90. I thought it would just be me, in the car.”
Arriving at Qwest Field, frantic Sounders fans pointed out the way to the locker room where the team was being held. With a little help from Lightning Lad (aka local actor Rob Burgess), Electron Boy opened the jammed door with his lightning rod and freed the Sounders team.
The Sounders team was very grateful for Electron Boy’s help. Forward Nate Jaqua called out “You saved us!” The team thanked Electron Boy, posed for photographs, and gifted Erik a jersey of his own and an autographed soccer ball, but things were not over as the Jumbotron was taken over by the sound of Dr. Dark’s voice.
Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy (aka Edgar Hansen and Jake Anderson respectively from Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch”) proclaimed their intentions of taking over Seattle by making it dark. As part of their diabolical plan, the evil duo had trapped “Energy Jim” aka Jim Hutchinson, an electrical employee, atop his bucket truck in front of Puget Sound Electic’s headquarters!
As Electron Boy arrived with his motorcade plus a white limo containing Erik’s proud sister, Charlotte Foote, two hundred and fifty PSE employees gathered to cheer him on in his rescue of their trapped co-worker.
But where were the villains? Word was that they were at the Space Needle where they had disabled the elevators and trapped a group of people on the observation deck. Electron Boy emerged from the DeLorean to a crowd of cheering fans to face Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy.
Dr. Dark was shocked, saying “How did you find us, Electron Boy?”
Electron Boy is a superhero of few words and swiftly froze Dr. Dark with his lightning rod freed the trapped people. Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy were taken into custody by the Bellevue police.
Bellevue police officer Curtis McIvor couldn’t thank Electron Boy enough, asking “How can we thank you for saving our souls?”
A smile crept onto Electron Boy’s face and he pointed his lightning rod at Blackout Boy’s throat to another roar of the cheering crowd. For his efforts in saving the city of Seattle, Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw presented Erik with a key to the city and a declaration that April 29th was hereby Electron Boy Day.
This production was of such a large scale that people thought the motorcade was for a visiting dignitary. This event certainly attracted much attention. Make-A-Wish communications director, Jeannette Tarcha stated, “It was so loud, people in office buildings were looking out the window.”
Erik’s day as a superhero was one that he, or the residents of Seattle, would not likely forget. Erik’s mother, Judy Martin, is more than happy for this day for her son, noting that Erik often does not have enough energy to even go to school, saying “He hasn’t had this much energy in a long time. They called it the power of the wish, and they’re right.”
Electron Boy aka Erik Martin simply said, “This is the best day of my life.”
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of more than three hundred children with life-threatening medical conditions a year.
Electron Boy has his own Facebook fan page. Become a fan here.
Here are more pictures from the glorious debut of Electron Boy.
(Comic cover art by professional artist Ken Christainsen; comic panel presented by PSE to Erik Martin in thanks for saving “Electric Jim”.)
[Source] Seattle Times
