EDMONTON — A six-year-old Edmonton girl who lives with acute lymphoblastic leukemia had her wildest dream come true Monday thanks to the Children’s Wish Foundation.
Scroll down to follow along with our SpiderMable live blog
An elaborate plan began Monday morning to have Mable transformed into “SpiderMable” and whisk her around the city to fight crime like a true superhero.
Mable’s love of superheroes began shortly after she was diagnosed in Sept. 2013. While undergoing treatment, the young girl would read comic books and quickly grew extremely fond of the Spider-Man comics from the 1960s. According to her mother, Lisa, Mable likes Spider-Man the best because he’s the closest hero to being human.
When the Children’s Wish Foundation approached Mable about granting her wish, it was simple – a superhero-themed wish was a must. And after extensive planning, the wish was granted on Monday.
The Children’s Wish Foundation even recorded a theme song for SpiderMable:
Watch below: Spider-Man arrived in Edmonton Monday morning to help SpiderMable save Oilers captain Andrew Ference from a villain. Michel Boyer caught up with the superhero before he left to find the villain.
The adventure began at 7 a.m., when Mable suited up as SpiderMable. She watched a staged newscast informing her of mysterious things going on in Edmonton.
Watch below: The news comes in that a prominent Edmontonian has been kidnapped
The video provided details about Edmonton Oilers Captain Andrew Ference being held captive by an evil villain and it was SpiderMable’s mission to set him free.
At 9 a.m., SpiderMable arrived at City Hall in a large white limousine. SpiderMable was greeted by her parter in crime-fighting, Spider-Man, who told her he flew in all the way from New York to help her.
Watch below: SpiderMable arrived at Edmonton City Hall and met with Spider-Man before getting started on her mission to find Andrew Ference.
The superhero duo met with city staff and sat down for a meeting with Mayor Don Iveson.
Watch below: SpiderMable receives proclamation from Edmonton mayor to track down villain who kidnapped Oilers captain Andrew Ference.
The mayor told pair the Oilers’ captain had been kidnapped and the villain was last seen wearing a purple cape and a bubble over his head.
“Go get him,” said Iveson, before giving SpiderMable a new set of gloves and web slingers.
The six-year-old seemed in awe of her Spidey partner – and all the TV cameras – as she made her way back outside. People with signs waited in City Hall to cheer SpiderMable on.
Her parents said Mable’s face was simply priceless.
“Everything that we’ve put in to getting this set up and keeping it secret from her is just so worth it,” said Lisa Tooke.
“Just the smile on her face, it’s like, ‘aw yeah.’ And then when she saw Spider-Man there.”
After the meeting with the mayor, SpiderMable went over to police headquarters to be briefed on the situation by members of the EPS.
The clues from police led her to West Edmonton Mall to investigate sightings of the villain Mysterio at the World Waterpark.
Mable arrived at West Edmonton Mall and was greeted by a crowd of supporters. As she made her way through the mall, dozens of people recognized her and cheered her on.
Watch below: SpiderMable greets fans at West Edmonton Mall
SpiderMable and Spider-Man then made their way to the waterpark where they learned they’d have to save Black Cat. The catch? They needed to zip line across the water do it! The spirited six-year-old and her Spidey sidekick got harnessed up and – as her custom “SpiderMable” theme song blared – flew across the waterpark to rescue Black Cat.
Watch below: SpiderMable flies through the air to make a rescue
After saying hello to a few dozen more fans, SpiderMable and her team took a quick break for lunch on Bourbon Street. After all, even superheroes have to eat.
Watch below: SpiderMable talks to the media about her search for Mysterio
After tackling the ropes course at West Edmonton Mall, Mable spotted her nemesis Mysterio on a train in Galaxyland.
The villain delivered a clue about the Ference kidnapping, which led her to Edmonton Valley Zoo.
The adorable superhero got a bit of extra superstar assistance. The Edmonton Oilers tweeted Connor McDavid was leaving practice to help the search efforts to find his captain.
At Edmonton Oilers practice Monday, the team was worried about their captain. Goaltender Ben Scrivens addressed the media in hopes of bringing Ference to safety.
Watch below: Ben Scrivens hopes SpiderMable will rescue their captain
As SpiderMable arrived at the zoo, a boisterous crowd chanting her name greeted the little superhero.
The evil Mysterio emerged with Ference tied up in a rope, and SpiderMable quickly jumped to his rescue. After shooting Mysterio with silly string, and a lot of it, she was able to free Ference from the villain’s grasp.
Mable said her favourite part of the day was zip lining at West Edmonton Mall, and getting to spend time with Ference and Black Cat.
“She’s smart and she’s a really cool superhero and sometimes villain,” said Mable.
Ference said it was amazing to see the entire city support Mable and see people come together to support her.
“Look at her, she’s just so cool,” he said. “Having kids of my own, to see a smile on a kid’s face, you can’t put a price on it; especially somebody who’s gone through a pretty tough time like her.”
McDavid was also extremely impressed by the people of Edmonton and said it was special to be part of Mable’s day.
“Any time you can do something like this for someone like Mable it’s very special,” he said. “I didn’t really know what to expect coming here and seeing the crowd and everyone following it… it just gives you a sense of how special someone like Mable is.”
As a thank you for saving their team captain, the Edmonton Oilers have invited Mable to drop the puck at Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes.
After successfully saving the city of Edmonton and its residents from the evil villain, SpiderMable had a party to celebrate her accomplishments at the zoo’s Otter Room.
Mable’s family sheltered her from the news on Sunday, as the Children’s Wish Foundation encouraged people to get involved in her wish along the way. And people did show up, greeting and cheering on the new superhero wherever she went.
“My daughter was very excited to come and see SpiderMable today. She’s had me playing the videos non-stop,” said Doug Berner, who came to city hall with his young daughter to support SpiderMable.
SpiderMable had four stops throughout the day. The locations and times were as follows:
- City Hall – 9:45 a.m.
- West Edmonton Mall World Waterpark – 11:30 a.m.
- West Edmonton Mall Galaxyland – 1:00 p.m.
- Edmonton Valley Zoo – just after 3:00 p.m.
The majority of the action happened at the zoo, as that was where SpiderMable rescued Ference from the evil villain.
In 2013, a similar wish went down in San Francisco when the city turned into Gotham City to help fulfill the wish of a five-year-old leukemia patient who dreamed of being Batkid for the day.
Watch below: Batkid saves Gotham City
Thousands of people turned up to watch Miles Scott save the day. President Barack Obama even got in on the fun, sending the young boy a video message thanking him for saving the city from evil.
With files from Emily Mertz.
If you were unable to stop by to catch some of the action, you can catch up on the day on our liveblog below: