Superheroes–Masquerading as Window Washers–Visit Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a window washer at Stanford Children’s Health!

Spiderman and his amazing superhero friends assembled and scaled the walls of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford to lift kids’ spirits, while washing windows of the patients’ room.

Equipped with squeegees, soap and buckets, window washers from Transpacific Building Maintenance and Century Pyramid Building Maintenance, changed into their secret identities as Batman, Flash, Mr. Incredible, and Spiderman, rappelled down the building, bringing a wave of smiles and joy to the little and big heroes inside. The super-friends’ mission was to bring a moment of magic and delight to the patients as they continue to heal.

Some parents say the surprise visit contributes to the healing process. “It’s definitely part of the wellness and health for not just our kids, but us too,” said Erin Krynen. “This is the first time in a long time I have seen my daughter smile so big like this since she’s been in the hospital. We feel very supported.”

Stanford Children’s Health Childlife and Creative Arts specialist Helen Ybarra was equally surprised and excited to see some of her favorite super characters. To show her gratitude to the window cleaners for swinging by, she posted a sign of thanks to the window that read, “Thank You For The Smiles”.

“They came to do this for us and they need to realize how powerful their visit is for patients, families, and the care teams,” said Ybarra. “ To see them support all of us, I wanted them to feel appreciated too.”

The masked superheroes have been coming to visit patients at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital for over ten years.

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