3 Cheers: Delco's Own Spider-Man
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If you're around Delaware County, you might just see Spider-Man, whether at a community event or a local children's hospital. Eyewitness News spotted him at Nemours A.I. duPont Hospital, and even with some CBS3 stars.
He calls himself the Delco Spider-Man.
"What have you been doing today?" CBS3's Chandler Lutz asked the costumed crusader.
"Today, a little bit of morning patrol, trying to swing with the wind and see how that goes," Spider-Man said.
Besides keeping his community safe, Spidey was able to touch the hearts of over 1,000 children through his visits last year alone.
"What does that mean to you?" Lutz asked.
"It fills the heart completely full. Grows a couple of sizes," Spider-Man said, "because they're in a battle that you don't even realize is even happening until you see them."
Spider-Man never shows up empty-handed. He brings sunglasses, toys, coloring books.
"He gave me these pink sunglasses," said 9-year-old Kylie McHugh.
Eleven-year-old Daniel Scharff of Audubon, New Jersey, had a theory about Spider-Man's visit: "Maybe there's no more bad guys out, and he can have a tiny break."
Spider-Man encourages kids to listen to the doctors.
"I remember when I was a little kid, a little boy. I had some injuries and I needed to get myself better," Spider-Man told K.J. Showalter, one of the patients at A.I. duPont.
"Uh oh!" K.J. said.
"And, yeah, look! It worked!" Spidey said. "I did my exercises, and I'm here."
"Me too!" K.J. said.
"That's how we do it," Spidey said as they shared a high five.
This hero wants to keep his identity a secret.
But Chandler met Spidey's closest friend, Jeff Thayer, who knows Spider-Man like nobody else.
"He's a personal friend of mine," Thayer said.
Jeff says the Spider-Man character inspires him.
"So literally anyone can wear the mask," Thayer said. "There's always somebody behind the suit."
"And to show that, somebody, you can be anybody," Lutz said.
"You can be a hero," Thayer said.
And when Spider-Man isn't being a superhero, he works a normal nine-to-five job.
"As long as the smiles are there, that's the goal," Spider-Man said.
This 3 Cheers is for the Delco Spider-Man, doing all this because it's what he loves.
