Local Heroes: supertee

Zoomin English

Just after her first birthday, Jason’s little daughter Angela was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer and given a 20% chance of survival. To help her get through it, he created a t-shirt that would make her feel invincible.

Transcript

00:00And we brought a friend along. Do you know who this is?

00:03Batman.

00:04Yeah.

00:07Do you want to open it?

00:08No.

00:11Wow.

00:16Open that up.

00:18Wow. Look at that.

00:21That's an awesome uniform.

00:22There's a very interesting study known as the Batman Effect.

00:25When a child takes on a superhero costume,

00:30they not only take on the costume, they take on the persona of that superhero.

00:34So now they're looking at things differently.

00:37They're looking at life through a different lens.

00:42My name is Jason Sotiris and I'm the co-creator of Super T.

00:45Show us your muscles.

00:47Yeah.

00:49The new medical garment for kids to wear in hospital.

00:52That's so cool. Can I have a fist bump?

00:54Oh!

00:59The inspiration for the Super T idea

01:02came from my own personal experience

01:05seeing my daughter fight her battle with a rare form of cancer.

01:10Shortly after her first birthday,

01:13Angela, my eldest daughter, started feeling sick.

01:18She just wanted cuddles and took long naps

01:22and she went from a very energetic young girl to the complete opposite.

01:27Eventually, we found our way to the Children's Hospital at Westmead

01:31and after four days of testing, they sat us down and they said,

01:35unfortunately, your daughter is very sick.

01:39She has a rare form of cancer called histiocytosis.

01:44They said, looking at how much this has spread,

01:49we'll give her a 20% chance of survival.

01:54I just wanted to help so much.

01:57There was nothing I could do.

01:59And as her father, I had to protect her.

02:02Until one night, after receiving chemotherapy,

02:07she woke up and the chemo was very strong.

02:11She threw up and I wanted to change her

02:14and the more I moved her, the more upset she got

02:16and I just wanted to rip that shirt off and make it so much easier for her.

02:20And that's when I thought, you know what?

02:22Maybe there's something we can do here.

02:24You don't need to put it on like a normal T-shirt.

02:26All you've got to do is...

02:28Like that.

02:30And like that.

02:32Jax, my name's Jason. How are you, Jax?

02:36Would you like a present?

02:40My daughter used to be here.

02:42She used to sit on this chair as well.

02:46Do you like superheroes?

02:48They're so cool!

02:52Cancer is like a bully that you just want to get to.

02:58It hides in the veins and organs of people you care and love

03:04and you just can't get to it.

03:08Unfortunately, it's like a shadow that never leaves you afterwards.

03:17Angela is doing very well.

03:19She recently turned six.

03:22Personally, I made a promise to my daughter

03:26that I would always fight

03:28until I see an end to her disease.

03:34My biggest dream is to get this product

03:37to every child in every hospital around the world

03:41so that it can grow into this international company

03:45where we can start contributing some massive financial assistance

03:50to those awesome people in the labs

03:53that have so little help

03:55so that they're trying to help those that have so little time.

04:01No!

04:03It's flashing up!

04:05No!

04:07It's flashing up!

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