There’s nothing more depressing than watching a good kid spend his childhood fighting against a life-threatening disease. For more than a year, 5-year-old Brayden Denton did just that. He underwent more than 30 rounds of radiation treatment in an effort to shrink a brain tumor. Along the way, he never lost his love and faith in superheroes; so, when he finally lost his life earlier this month, his family decided to send him out in the most fitting way possible.
Instead of asking everyone to dress up in formal clothing, the boy’s parents decided to cut loose and do something Brayden actually would have liked. So, as you can see in the above picture, they asked six men to dress up as superheroes and carry his casket to its final resting place. As his favorite, Spider-Man was in the front, followed by Thor, The Hulk, Superman, Batman and Iron Man.
Throughout his life, Brayden was a huge fan of superheroes. He reportedly consumed every superhero-related story he could find and even had Spider-Man birthday cakes for his 3rd and 4th birthdays and a multi-layered superhero cake for his 5th birthday. When it came time for his Make A Wish, he picked Universal Studios so he could meet all of the Marvel characters, and according to The New York Daily News, one of his last big dreams in life was to make it long enough to see the new Spider-Man flick. Mission accomplished. He was reportedly pretty weak when he made it inside the theater, but he was able to give his mom and dad a big thumbs up after the closing credits rolled.
Brayden was diagnosed with an advanced form of brain cancer in April of ’13. Called DIPG, it has a 0% survival rate, but like a champion, he fought it off for more than a year, bringing inspiration to his Indiana community along the way. In that time, he also made it long enough to see Man Of Steel, in costume, of course.
Cinema Blend’s sincerest well-wishes go out to the entire Denton family during this time of need. Clearly, they did everything they could to make the little man’s life as special and fun as possible during his last year or so on Earth. It’s nice to see he went out on top. He will be missed.
Photo Courtesy Of Cory Denton.
