14 DAY TRIAL // Brayden Denton, a 5-year-old Indiana boy, was a huge superhero fan, and when he lost his battle with cancer earlier this month, his loving mother decided to organize a hero’s funeral for him to pay tribute to his love of superheroes.
Six pallbearers dressed as the superheroes Brayden admired so much carried the boy's casket last week at his touching funeral. Spider-Man, Superman, Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man and Batman honored the brave boy by accompanying him on his last journey on earth.
“He was a huge Spider-Man fan,” the boy's mother, Staci Denton, told the NY Daily News. “He had to quit just liking Spider-Man because he had all the toys. So really he liked every superhero.”
“The whole time I saw them carrying Brayden he was probably up there going, 'This is so cool'. That was his world. That's what he would have wanted,” she added.
In April 2013, little Brayden was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer with a minimal survival rate. After a 13-month battle with the cancerous brain tumor, during which he underwent high doses of steroids and 30 rounds of radiation, the boy passed away on May 8 at Riley Hospital for Children.
Brayden's love of superheros helped him escape from the harsh reality and kept his mind off the tough radiation treatments. Last year, he even got the opportunity to meet his favorite hero Spider-Man at Universal Studios in Florida, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
And, although he was very weak and had lost his ability to walk, the boy went to see the latest Spider-Man movie in spring.
“That was one of our battles that we wanted to make sure he got to see that movie,” his mother said.
Brayden’s tumor was donated for research, and the boy's family is now trying to raise awareness for DIPG, which affects between 100 and 150 children each year in the United States and is considered the worst form of brain cancer in that it is inoperable and the median survival rate from diagnosis is 9 months.
Last month, we learned about another family who did their best to fulfill their four-year-old son's final wish to have a Star Wars-themed funeral. Jack Robinson, from Hampshire, England, died at the beginning of April and his family and friends said an emotional goodbye to him at a special ceremony dedicated to his love for the popular movie.