Lifestyle

9-Year-Old Girl Who Beat Her Heart Condition Makes Superhero Capes for Other Sick Kids

By Mauricio Castillo 2 min read

# capes
# Duke
# Duke University

Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, they just have to do something for those who need it. 9-year-old Paige Sullivan has proven that even at a young age, you can be a hero, one who has conquered immense battles and still finds it in their heart to help others. And what a heart it is.

Sullivan was born with a defective heart condition, one that left her extremely susceptible to heart attacks as she grew older. And even though the risk of cardiac arrest was ever-present in her youth, she had to wait until she was the appropriate age to undergo potentially life-changing heart surgery.

Thankfully, this past summer, Sullivan underwent the surgery successfully and is now living like any other normal child. During the build-up to the surgery, her doctor and family called her a superhero for being so brave in the face of all her tests. It struck a chord with young Sullivan, who took it upon herself to make capes for other sick children, so they can find their “inner superhero” too.

With the help of her mother, Racine McCulloch, Sullivan learned of a way to create “no-sew” capes using glue, a yardstick and a ribbon, while her mother provides the fabric. Once completed, Sullivan hands them out to the sick kids in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit of Duke University Hospital (where Sullivan had her heart surgery). This past Monday, Sullivan handed out Halloween-themed capes:

“Well, I feel like that kids in the hospital or any kid that are going through hard times should think of themselves as a superhero, and every superhero needs a superhero cape,” she told Inside Edition. “My advice for kids who are going through hard times is to embrace their cape, and the superhero within.”

Sullivan hopes to share her capes with kids all over the world. She is also writing a book, one that details her experiences throughout her treatment and procedure in the hopes to shed light and advice on the unknowns of hospital stay.