NEWTON COUNTY, Ind. — A five-year-old Indiana boy recently lost his battle with cancer. So his family decided his funeral would celebrate the superheroes he loved.
In September CNN affiliate WLFI News 18 introduced everyone to then four-year-old Brayden Denton and his mother, Staci Denton. At the time Brayden was in the middle of his battle with a brain tumor. Denton says it was a battle fit for a superhero. But as the months went on Brayden got worse.
“He stopped completely walking. Then we got through that hurdle. Then he started not being able to eat or drink,” she said.
Earlier this month Denton took Brayden to riley hospital for children to stay. Then, on May 8, she said her son pretty much stopped breathing.
When planning a funeral for her superhero something came to Denton’s mind. Forget the suits and dresses; instead she wanted her loved ones representing what Brayden loved the most, superheroes.
“He was a huge Spiderman fan. He had to quit just liking Spiderman because he had all the toys. So really he liked every superhero,” said Denton.
And a league of superheroes showed up. Pallbearers dressed as Brayden’s favorite superheroes. The man who dressed as Thor is Brayden’s uncle, Cory Denton.
“It was hard, but I did it for him. We went to the Superman movie with him and he was dressed up as Superman. I watched all the Ironman’s with him,” said Cory.
The picture of the Denton’s superhero being carried by his superhero friends has had hundreds of shares on Facebook. It may have been an unconventional funeral but his family says it’s what Brayden would’ve wanted.
Cory says even if Brayden is not with him in the flesh he will always be his number one movie buddy.
“He’s always here with me, and I’ll always watch them with him because he is always with me,” said Cory.
Denton donated her son’s tumor to research. She is also working with Senator Ron Alting of Indiana to get the state to recognize September as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.