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Editor's ViewpointMeditations Of A Minnesota Mossback |
The Power of Electron Boy … And Magical Connections
After a week like this, there is a temptation to contemplate human nature—and despair.
It seems beyond the ability of the human brain to cope with senseless tragedies like the cold-blooded killing of a law enforcement officer.
And then, just when we need it most, along comes a story of the irresistible power of human goodness.
Enter Electron Boy.
The story of a recent Make-A-Wish Foundation dreamcome- true, written up in The Seattle Times last month, “flew around the world faster than, well, a speeding bullet,” as the follow-up piece in the Times read.
Erik Martin was born with half a working heart and severe health issues. His biological mother was unable to care for him; a foster family gifted with a passion for medically fragile children took him into their Bellevue home. Erik has grown up developmentally disabled, but is said to possess an unusual level of empathy for others.
Now 13, he is battling a recurrence of a rare cancer which at this point doctors consider beyond the help of chemotherapy and surgery.
His foster mom contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the suggestion of one of the boy’s care nurses.
After his doctors said he was strong enough to participate, Erik made his wish.
It was an unusual request: young Erik told the foundation that what he really wanted most of all was to be a superhero— to be able to run fast, be powerful and help others. He wanted a sidekick, and he wanted to be able to ride in a DeLorean.
It was a tall order.
Eventually, however, the idea of Electron Boy was born, the brainchild of Make-A-Wish’s Wish Manager Jessie Elenbaas.
A local actor agreed to serve as “Lightning Lad,” Erik’s right-hand man. The Seattle Children’s Theatre worked with the teen and his box of crayons to design a superhero outfit with logo (“no cape—capes are nothing but trouble,” Erik said wisely).
The end result was a choreographed event that involved volunteers by the hundreds, including the Seattle Sounders soccer team and the staff of Puget Sound Energy.
Erik’s big day began with a phone call from none other than Spider-Man. Then he was picked up at his foster family’s home in Bellevue by a DeLorean and—with an escort provided by the Bellevue police and King and Snohomish county sheriff departments (they had already planned a training run that day)—was transported in style to Qwest Field for Electron Boy’s moment of glory.
Erik seemed overwhelmed at first, Lightning Lad later said. After all, the day’s events had been kept a secret.
But the young superhero eventually warmed up to the whole scenario and by the end of the day, Doctor Dark and his sidekick Blackout Boy had been subdued, the Seattle Sounders had been released from their locker room prison, and cheering crowds of PSE employees waved handpainted signs (“Marry Me, Electron Boy!”) while Erik beamed.
It was one of the biggest Make-A-Wish events ever, and one of the least expensive— almost everything was donated by complete strangers.
In the week following the story’s publication, interest in Erik’s tale was sparked around the world. The foundation’s Seattle chapter was overwhelmed by the generous donations of Electron Boy’s fans, located as far away as the Czech Republic and The Netherlands.
“Some things just have a magical connection,” one PSE employee was heard saying several days after the fairy dust settled.
Other people thought so, too: the Times story quoted one Facebook fan: “Hey, Electron Boy, way to go!! My son is fighting cancer too and stories like yours are just what we need for a little extra fighting power every day!”
It’s true. The superheroes we have known empower us and spur us on when life is hard, when the tall buildings seem too tall, and the villains steal our hearts away.
We need to remember Erik’s story and take courage, knowing that the good people in the world vastly outnumber the bad guys.
Superheroes don’t always have a happy ending— but the world wouldn’t be the same without them. To read more, simply Google “Electron Boy.” You’ll be energized, I promise.