Why this 5-year-old got to help bust a bandit with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kind of day Tuesday for 5-year-old Mathias Gomez, who enjoyed a cool ride, got to meet a couple of the famous heroes, and even helped them solve a crime.

Mathias had a ride in a 1969 cherry red Mustang, practiced Ninja moves with two of the comic book heroes, and helped the duo bust a pizza bandit at a special party at Doctors Medical Center. Soon, he’ll also head to Disney World, thanks to the Make-A-Wish foundation.

According to a release from the hospital, Mathias was diagnosed in 2016 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. He is now in remission but still receives monthly chemotherapy treatments.

Make-A-Wish is sending Mathias and his family to Disney World, and Doctors wanted to send him off in style. Mathias’ father, Eric Gomez, works at Doctors and co-workers there have rallied around the family, raising money and more, according to the release.

This story was originally published March 12, 2019 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Why this 5-year-old got to help bust a bandit with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."