Thirteen-year-old Erik Martin of Bellevue has accomplished what many kids his age only dream of.
He defeated a duo of super villains, saved the Seattle Sounders team, rescued Puget Sound Electric employee Jim Hutchinson at the PSE’s Bellevue headquarters, and freed a group of civilians trapped inside the Space Needle.
He did all this while cruising around the city in a DeLorean led by a motorcade and wearing his signature blue-and-red Electron Boy superhero costume.
Erik’s special day, worthy of the pages of a Marvel comic book, was coordinated by the regional chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation. For one memorable day, Erik was given the opportunity to forget about living with liver cancer and instead step into a superhero costume, conquer the bad guy and save the day.
According to Erik’s mom, Judy Martin, the entire day was made possible by the support of community volunteers and the creativity of the local chapter behind Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“It’s been two weeks since the big day and Erik is still beaming,” she said. “I’ve never seen him like this. It’s incredible.”
Erik was prompted to action on the Thursday morning when he received a phone call at his Bellevue home from Spider Man asking for his help. “Dr. Dark” and “Blackout Boy” had imprisoned the Seattle Sounders in a locker room at Qwest Field and he needed Erik’s help to save them.
Erik changed into his Electron Boy costume and reached out to Moonshine Maid, who owns a DeLorean sports car, and together with more than 20 motorcycle officers from the Bellevue Police Department and King County and Snohomish sheriff’s offices, the heros made their way to Seattle.
Fans awaited Electron Boy when he arrived at Qwest Field. He reached the Sounders locker room and, using his Lightning rod, helped free the trapped team of players. The Sounders cheered for him and thanked him for rescuing them.
The rescue was short-lived when an announcement alerted Electron Boy to another dilemma back across the bridge. Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy, played by Edgar Hansen and Jake Anderson, of Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,” announced they had captured Puget Sound Electric employee Jim Hutchinson in the top of his bucket truck in front of PSE’s Bellevue headquarters.
Electron Boy and Moonshine Maid sped off to Bellevue where they were greeted by hundreds of PSE employees and community members chanting and cheering them on.
After freeing Hutchinson, Electron Boy made his way down the main courtyard at the PSE headquarters and into a white limousine waiting to take him to his next destination, the Space Needle. Before rolling away, Electron Boy peaked his head out the top sunroof of the limousine and waved to his fans. The crowd went wild and began chanting his name.
“It was a very powerful day and so incredible watching the way he changed as the day progressed,” Erik’s mother explained. “He started off slow and out of breath with no energy like most days, but towards the end his energy level got higher and higher. He even ran out of the car when we got to the (Space) Needle. I haven’t seen him that excited in a long time.”
Once at the Space Needle, Electron Boy confronted Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy, freezing the evil villains with his lightning rod. He saved the people trapped in the observation deck and watched as Bellevue Police Officer Curtis McIvor placed handcuffs on Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy.
Seattle City Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw presented Electron Boy with key to the city and proclaimed that Thursday was Electron Boy Day.
Erik’s super hero day may be over, but he has the chance to relive every exciting moment thanks to a 30-minute video Judy’s older son made using photos, video clips and a personalized theme song created just for Erik.
“I can’t even put this whole experience into words,” she said. Every time Erik watches the video, he smiles. Everyone has been on pins an needles, holding our breath out of worry for so long. This has been a wonderful sigh of relief to see him so happy.”
Lindsay Larin can be reached at 425-453-4602.
