The man who turned San Francisco into Gotham City… Children heroes leave

In April 1980, Frank Shankwitz, who was working as a patrol in Arizona, USA, received a radio call from a supervisor to urgently return to headquarters. Upon returning, he heard the story of Chris, a 7-year-old boy at the end of leukemia. The boy’s wish was to become a police officer, and when death was imminent, Chris’ parents and neighbors asked for help.

Shankwitz and fellow police officers agreed to grant Chris’ wish for a few days. A police helicopter was used to transport Chris from the hospital being treated to the police headquarters. Later, Chris wore a custom-made police uniform and rode a children’s electric car resembling a patrol motorcycle in the front yard of his house. In his 2018 memoir Wish Man, Shankwitz recalled, “Christ seemed full of life, and it was hard to believe that he was sick.”

Three days after the wish was fulfilled, Chris fell into a coma. Shankwitz, who said, “I’ll give you a badge for only patrols,” kept the hospital to keep his promise. Chris woke up for a moment, looked at the patrol badge, asked Shankwitz, “Now you’re the official patrol, right?” and fell asleep again. On the way back from the funeral, Shankwitz realized what he had to do for other sick children. It was to establish a’Make a Wish’ foundation that would grant wishes that might be the last.

On the 6th (local time), the New York Times (NYT) reported that Frank Shankwitz, who founded the Make-A-Wish Foundation and served as the first president, recently died at home. 77 years old. His wife, Kitty Shankwitz, said, “I’ve been suffering from esophageal cancer for a long time.” The Make-A-Wish, established by Shankwitz, currently has 59 branches in the United States and 39 overseas branches to give the wishes of children suffering from incurable diseases such as childhood cancer and leukemia.

In 1997, when an American boy, diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, said, “I want to meet God and ask why I am so sick,” Pope John Paul II at the time met the boy, saying, “God’s close friend.” . In 2013, in order to fulfill the wish of a boy struggling with “I want to be Batman”, the city he lived in San Francisco changed its name to Gotham City for a day. At the time, the Chronicle, the largest daily newspaper in San Francisco, changed its title to’Gotham City Chronicle’.

Frank Shankwitz, born in Chicago, USA in 43 years, had an unfortunate childhood due to parental discord. After graduating from college, he joined the U.S. Air Force and joined the patrol in 72. In his sixth year as a police officer, he was chasing a drunk driver and was hit by another drunk driver’s car. A passing nurse accidentally found him and managed to get CPR to survive, but it took more than a year to recover. Immediately after reinstatement, I encountered Chris’ story, and later founded the foundation.

He received a commendation from former President George W. Bush in 2004 and was named one of 52 heroes who changed the world in 2010 NYT bestselling author Brad Melcher’s book Heroes For My Son.

Reporter Kim Sun-mi [email protected]