Real-life Superheroes can come in all sizes

Hundreds of adult parents and their youngsters, many dressed as comic book superheroes, flocked to the Blair County Convention Center on March 20 for the fourth annual Superhero Day sponsored by the Altoona Mirror.

The vintage superheroes Batman and Superman were represented, as were Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers and the heroes and villains from Star Wars.

The event ushered me back to the time of my youth when comic books were the literary choice for most kids. My personal favorites tended to be military tough guys like the rugged Sgt. Rock who seemed to single-handedly win World War II for the Allies with superhuman endurance and strength, surviving machine-gun fire, hand grenades, tanks or any other obstacle the Nazis threw at him.

There was also Johnny Cloud, a Navajo Indian fighter pilot who almost cleared the skies of enemy planes; and a young tank commander named Jeb Stuart whose armored vehicle was haunted by the ghost of his ancestor, the legendary southern Civil War general and cavalry leader, J.E.B. Stuart.

Although superheroes have evolved through the years, they still manage to inspire and charge the imagination. Hopefully, they can also pry youngsters away from their video games and computer screens long enough to enjoy some healthy outdoor activities.

In the case of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" it was the martial arts. Some of the parents of today were influenced by martial arts when the Ninja Turtles exploded from the pages of comic books during the mid-1980s and expanded into cartoon series, films, video games and toys, and other general merchandise during the early 1990s.

Last week we learned that 13-year-old Nathan Boyer of Chandler, Arizona, became a real-world superhero himself by helping to save the life of his baseball coach.

Isaac Wenrich, 26, was leading players in training drills when he suffered a massive heart attack and fell to the ground in front of the team.

When Boyer got no response, he grabbed his phone and dialed 911. After explaining his scene to the dispatcher, Boyer remembered his CPR training as a Boy Scout. He locked his hands together and began performing chest compressions.

Soon after the boy's lifesaving techniques, local firefighters arrived and Wenrich was taken to the hospital.

This is not the first time a teen has used CPR training to save someone. At a Missouri Walmart, Abby Snodgrass, a 17-year-old with CPR training, heard an emergency announcement come over the loud speaker and went to investigate.

She saw a baby on the ground who wasn't breathing, surrounded by a crowd and the panicked mother. Abby immediately jumped into action and began giving CPR to the infant. The crowd watched as the infant began breathing again.

The Altoona show three weeks ago also featured some real-life protectors - firefighters, emergency medical workers and police, who explained their tools and cool vehicles.

We're encouraged to know that there are real-world superheroes among us. They come in all sizes and don't have to be all Sgt. Rock types who punch out the bad guys.

Those who remember their CPR training and bravely step forward in a crisis moment will do nicely.

By JIM ZBICK | tneditor@tnonline.com