SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Ten years ago this week, I was covering politics for KQED, San Francisco's NPR member station. And as I tried to figure out what was happening at the Statehouse on Friday, November 15, it was pretty hard to concentrate.
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DETROW: The big day started at 10 a.m., when he left the Grand Hyatt in Union Square in his Batmobile there - a donated Lamborghini. From Union Square, he answered a call for help in Russian Hill.
KRON4 and all the other local news stations were providing wall-to-wall coverage of a 5-year-old kid dressed as Batman, dashing around San Francisco, saving the day.
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DETROW: Batkid - his name was Miles Scott, and he was battling leukemia. The Make-A-Wish Foundation had pulled out all the stops to grant him his wish to be a real-life superhero. Among his victories, Miles went on to foil a bank robbery, save a damsel in distress.
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DETROW: Batkid jumped into action...
The Make-A-Wish Foundation helps kids battling critical illnesses reclaim moments of childhood by helping them live out moments of joy. But this particular effort took on a life of its own.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: One of our volunteers put into a Facebook and Twitter and, like wildfire, just - like it exploded.
DETROW: Thousands of people lined the streets to cheer Miles on. It was all over the national news.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: San Francisco turned into Gotham City - all pretend...
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: To make a little boy's wish come true.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #3: Today, this 5-year-old is teaching an entire city what it means to be a superhero.
(CHEERING)
DETROW: Real Batmen (ph) were tweeting at him and sending messages of support. And even President Obama joined in.
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BARACK OBAMA: Way to go, Miles. Way to save Gotham.
DETROW: And Batkid today?
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MILES SCOTT: I'm doing amazing. I feel like that brings them hope.
DETROW: Miles Scott is doing great. The Make-A-Wish Foundation posted clips of the now teenager reflecting on it all.
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MILES: I liked all superheroes at the time, but I just kept coming back to Batman because Batman never really like, fades away. He's always coming back.
DETROW: These days, it seems like baseball has replaced Batman a little bit when it comes to Miles' interests. But he says in the video, he wears all black when he plays, and his teammates cheer him on by yelling Batkid. So in a sense, he's still, as Commissioner Gordon once put it...
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GARY OLDMAN: (As Commissioner James Gordon) He's the silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight.
(SOUNDBITE OF HANS ZIMMER AND JAMES NEWTON HOWARD'S "A WATCHFUL GUARDIAN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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