Meet a Two-Year-Old Iron Man

A charity organization has helped one sick kid become a real life Iron Man, and gotten some recognition from Marvel as a result.

The boy, named Ezekiel, is two years old. He was born with two-thirds of his heart outside of his body, along with part of his kidneys and intestinal tract. Fortunately doctors were able to fix him up, and the Las Vegas Children’s Heart Foundation has recently been able to provide him with a custom-made chest plate that will protect Ezekiel and allow him to live the active life of a normal toddler.

Ezekiel’s family elected to have the plate painted to resemble Iron Man’s iconic red and gold armor. The comic book character, played by Robert Downey Jr. in the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, also has heart problems, and has a special device built into his chest to keep him alive.

Bill Rosemann, Executive Director of Marvel Games, got word of this story and shared it on Twitter, along with a photo of Ezekiel in his new chest plate. (And matching Iron Man gloves, which presumably are only there to complete the ensemble.)

“A mighty @Marvel salute to Ezekiel, the 2-year-old #IronMan! “His family chose to have his specially-designed plate painted as Iron Man to help Ezekiel identify that his heart condition is what makes him braver, not weaker.” The true power of Super Heroes,” Rosemann wrote in his tweet.

This is not the only time that the people behind our favorite superheroes take some time to interact with civilians in need. In one recent case, word of a terminally ill fan (who has since passed away) wanting to talk to an Avenger got responses not only from MCU actors like Chris Evans (Captain America), but actors from rival franchises like Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Zachary Levi (Captain Marvel/Shazam).

And of course, many heroes manage some direct charity. Tom Holland, who plays Spider-Man, has been known to visit children’s hospitals in his costume in order to raise the patients’ spirits. Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Mystique in the X-Men movies, also regularly visits hospitals when she’s back in her home state of Kentucky.

Marvel also recently announced a charity campaign tying into Avengers: Infinity War. Actors have been trying to get donations while a portion of profits will be shared with numerous charities that help out sick kids in need.