Spiderman spins web of joy for kids at Kaiser Permanente

Sometimes even superheroes can be lost for words. When Spiderman visited Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara’s advanced care pediatric unit to entertain e young patients, 8-year-old Tyler told the costumed crusader that his favorite superhero is indeed, Spiderman.

“Really? Really?” said Spiderman. After a pause, he and Tyler exchanged high-fives and smiles, and then continued their conversation at Tyler’s bedside.

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Underneath the costume and arachnid mask is 34-year-old Ricky Mena, an athletic man from Pittsburg, California who has the “Heart of a Hero” attached to his name tag. He hasa spiritual reason for getting into costume and visiting some 6,000 hospitalized children in Bay Area hospitals the past two-and-a-half years.

“My deceased grandmother came to me in a dream and told me this is my work,” Mena said. “This is where I’m best utilized in the world.”

“He’s really good with the children, regardless of their ages” said Wendy Celaya, the Kaiser Permanente Child Life Specialist tasked with helping young patients get comfortable in the hospital. Mena has appeared at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Hospital, too, as well. At Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara, he went from room-to-room, trailed by a Radio Flyer wagon filled with age-appropriate gifts.

In one room, Spiderman-Mena brought 8-year-old Dana a craft album, and then explained how crafting worked. In Tyler’s room, Spiderman-Mena presented the young man with a bag of miniature superheroes, but he gave it with a warning.

“Don’t leave these out laying on the floor and then turn off the light,” he said with Tyler nodding, “because if you step on them in the dark, they’ll really hurt your feet.”

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Mena’s gentle voice and friendly manner even helped calm the youngest patients,who were at first seemed uncertain about this figure in red-and-blue spandex coming into their hospital room.

“The teenagers that I visited at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Hospital were all pretty cool,” says Spiderman. He expects to pay a return visit. .

“He brings joy to our patients,” says Chris Boyd, the hospital’s Senior Vice President and Area Manager, “ and that’s not only super but heroic as well.”