Kids in wheelchairs equipped with Halloween costumes fit for a superhero



SALT LAKE CITY — Twenty-eight wheelchair-bound patients from Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake City got geared up for Halloween recently.

"Halloween traditions we take for granted, like door-to-door trick or treating, are really hard for kids in wheelchairs," Dawn Wright, Director of Marketing and Communications at Shriners Hospital for Children, told KSTU. "They can't navigate porch steps for example, and so having a really cool costume that people want to rush from their doors to see, really bring them into Halloween and helps them have a better experience."

"I've been Superman, Batman; now I'm going to be Spider-man," said Shriner's patient Miles Rojas.

Wright said the hospital has been hosting this Wheelchair Costume Clinic for three years now, run by hospital staff and volunteers.

"What's really cool is we can make anything a child's heart desires," Wright said. "So we are doing anything today from an astronaut and the moon to fighter pilots and a plane."

Britton Dailey was being transformed into a bus driver because his mom says he loves riding the bus, and kids say they're excited to be exactly what they want this Halloween, without limitations.

"I've been looking around and I've seen everyone smiling when they look at their wheelchair getting dressed up. Even though I don't know what costume they have, I just know that they're happy," said Shriners patient Lilly Kongaika.

Whichever costume they choose, most kids had one common goal.

"My favorite part is getting candy," Rojas said. His favorite candy? "Everything."