Local superheroes!

​We tell kids all the time that ordinary people can be superheroes too. This March, a tiny bit more proof of that concept came to light. Kristen Braconi took her son Carter, a 5-year-old boy with high functioning autism and ADHD, to a skate park in South Brunswick for his birthday. They wanted to use the park for about a half hour before the local group of middle schoolers showed up. According to his mother, Carter was worried that the older children would take over the park and exclude them, and that he would have to leave. Luckily for Carter, that was not the case: “[The] kids came up to him, started being super nice, playing, and showing him things” said Kristen.
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Elated, Carter zipped around the park with the group of older boys on his scooter, impressing them with his tricks. The boys came together and sang Happy Birthday, bringing Kristen to tears. One of the boys, Gavin Mabes, gave Carter a mini skateboard and taught him how to use it. “When he fell, without even hesitating, Gavin picked him up and showed him how to ride. It was amazing, and they did all this without anyone prompting them,” Braconi said. She posted a heartwarming video of Carter with the boys on Facebook, which quickly went viral.

“These kids showed the care and compassion of Superheroes,” the South Brunswick police department posted on Facebook. “We want to throw them a little pizza party to recognize their Superhero status.” Luckily, the police were quickly successful in “finding their men”, and in the best of circumstances. The boys were identified on Friday as: Gavin Mabes, David Lakatos, Aaron Perna, Luis Velazquez, Damon Andon, Jiya Salman, Jessica George, Lauren Mazur, Samantha Schwab and Om Patel.

It only takes a few minutes to make a child’s day, and you may even improve their whole life. Remember how you wanted to be treated by the older kids and adults when you were a kid; a little sunshine spreads a long way! We’re lucky to have our everyday “superheroes” like this group of boys in our community.