BANGKOK - A Thai firefighter dressed as Spiderman to
rescue an autistic boy who climbed onto a third-floor balcony and
dangled his legs over the side because he was nervous on his first
day of school.
Firefighter Somchai Yoosabai was called in after the 11-year-old
boy's teachers and mother failed to coax him off the ledge on
Monday, he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
"He was nervous about the first day at school, and he was asking
for his mother," Somchai said. "He cried and refused to let any of
us get close to him."
Overhearing a conversation between the boy's mother and his
teachers about his love for comics and superheros, Somchai rushed
back to the fire station to change into a Spiderman costume before
swinging into action.
"I told him Spiderman is here to save you. No monster will hurt
you now," Somchai said. "Then I told him to walk slowly toward me.
I was very nervous that he might have slipped if he got too excited
and ran."
Somchai, who keeps costume of Spiderman and a Japanese superhero
Ultraman to liven up fire drills at schools, said the teary-eyed
boy broke into a smile and started walking into his arms.
The fictional hero was created by comic-writer Stan Lee in the
early 1960s. The character regained its popularity in recent years
thanks to the trilogy of Hollywood films starring Tobey McGuire and
Kirsten Dunst.
