Family Asking Supporters to Send Superhero Drawings To 3-Year-Old Cancer Patient

At their best, superheroes tend to be inspiration or aspirational figures, giving their audience [...]

By Russ Burlingame

superheroesforbenny

At their best, superheroes tend to be inspiration or aspirational figures, giving their audience someone to look up to or strive to be.

That's exactly the hope some parents have for their young son, a big fan of superheroes who is facing a lengthy cancer treatment regimen.

They've asked people from around the Internet to send their son superhero drawings, along with encouraging words, to help him feel that he's not alone and that he can beat what's coming.

"We want him to know there is nothing to fear, and that he has a tremendous support system of friends and family," Jason Austin, father of Ben, told Today.

You can see a Facebook post from his aunt below.

"His cousin had the idea for his friends and family to send hand-drawn pictures of superheroes with motivational phrases for Ben," Austin added. "We are just hoping this eases his transition into his new normal. We hope that this reinforces the idea that he is just as strong, if not stronger, than any of the superheroes."

They've started a hashtag -- #superheroesforbenny -- so that anybody can participate, but they're hoping to get physical drawings too, presumably so that he's got something when he can't have a device turned on.

Today reports that three-year-old Ben will go through 12 weeks of chemotherapy, and will be checked halfway through to determine how much of his kidney will need to be removed.

Drawings of #superheroesforbenny can be mailed to:

Benjamin Austin, c/o The Malta Family, 10 Wheatfield Lane, Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, 18707.

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