Fantasy & Freeman

Window cleaner Will KuyKhoven hangs out as Spider-Man from The Advertiser building in Waymouth St., Australia.

Window Cleaner Lives Out Fantasy: Was that Spider-Man scaling the outside of The Advertiser building on Waymouth St this week. In reality it was window cleaner Will KuyKhoven, who finally lived out his fantasy of incorporating his day job with his love of super heroes. “I’ve been doing this job for 12 years now and friends are always asking ‘do you feel like Spider-Man?’ or ‘do they let you dress up?’,” he says.

Mr KuyKhoven, 34, also shares his passion for caped crusaders with his sons Jacob, 14, and Byron, 5, but unlike the Marvel comic books, the reality of abseiling down large buildings is vastly different to the adventures of Spider-Man.

“There are obviously many checks and balances involved,” says Mr KuyKhoven. “We use two ropes, a main one that we work off and a safety line, and where we’re connected at the roof needs to be very secure. “All our equipment is checked and double-checked every time we do a job.”

We’re also not sure if Spider-Man ever had to do the week-long abseiling training in Melbourne that Mr KuyKhoven needed before he began work.

Kevin Smith (top right) became a "Freeman" of Lancaster.

Window cleaner becomes freeman of Lancaster: A window cleaner is among 11 people who have been named Freemen of the City of Lancaster. Kevin Smith from Morecambe will now have the right to pasture a limited number of beasts on the Marsh and enter Lancaster city free from the payment of tolls.

Nowadays the role carries few rights, but remains popular amongst those who are proud of their heritage. Those eligible to apply to become a Freeman include sons or daughters of a Freeman or Freewoman, those who have served an apprenticeship to a Freeman or Freewoman of the city for seven years, anyone born within the old city boundaries or who has lived within the old city boundaries for a period of seven consecutive years. You also have to be 16 or over.

The new Freemen could, in time, also be eligible for their share of an annual payment known as ‘Marsh Grass’. This stems from 1900 when the Lancaster Corporation secured Parliamentary powers under which the Freemen’s rights in the Marsh were extinguished subject to the payment by the Corporation of £13 per annum. Each year the 80 senior Freemen (or their widows) resident within the old city boundaries are entitled to claim the payment.

Just To See Them Smile

Matt "Spider-Man" McGehee visits with patient Isaiah Bush as he and his mother, Tamekia Bush, of Belleville, watch him work as a window washer at St. Louis Children's Hospital. "They look out and their eyes get big and their smiles get big," said McGehee of the patients. "It's worth the sweating."

Spider-Man window washers brighten kids' day at Children's Hospital: On the 13-story-high roof of St. Louis Children’s Hospital this week, the superheroes pulled on their hooded masks and disappeared over the ledge. On the floors below, kids with conditions like asthma, sickle cell anemia, epilepsy and cancer were just waking up.

Brooklyn Lintz, 17, is on the eighth floor. She was telling a nurse how badly her hip hurt when a figure caught her eye. “Is that Spider-Man?!” she sat up. “I have to take a picture!” Crippled by pain, Brooklyn asked the nurse if he could open the blinds all the way. “He didn’t already leave, did he?” Two Spider-Men returned to her window, waving and striking poses, as if webs were going to shoot from their wrists. One reached into a yellow bucket and pulled out a sponge and squeegee. He cleaned her window.

'Spider-Men' Andy Weeks (left) and Matt McGehee shoot their webs for Brooklyn Lintz, 17, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., as they work as window washers at St. Louis Children's Hospital."

Brooklyn had spent much of the previous four days in the hospital sleeping, exhausted from pain medications. She suffers from two forms of sickle cell disease, she explained, one that deteriorates her bones and another that can cause severe pain anywhere in the body. The pain put her in a wheelchair and caused her to miss her junior year of high school in Cape Girardeau. She had a hip replacement in January. She’s fought gallstones, dangerous blood clots and infections. “That’s so awesome,” she said softly as the Spider-Men disappeared. They are fighting villains far more real and worse than the Joker or Green Goblin.

Andy "Spider-Man" Weeks readies his ropes as he climbs over the roof of St. Louis Children's Hospital to wash patient windows." You go over the wall and everyone screams your name," said Weeks. "Then you come back and it's back to being you."

IT'S FOR THE KIDS

Outside, temperatures climbed into the upper 80s. Window washers Matt McGehee, 41, and Andy Weeks, 31, were soaked with sweat under their full-body superhero suits, filled with thick padding to look like bulging muscles. They think the tights are inappropriate even without the safety harness around their hips, so they have jeans on, too. They could barely breathe through the two holes cut out under the noses of their hoods, and they struggled to see through the mesh. But they didn’t dare pull it off. “You can’t reveal your secret identity,” Weeks said.

McGehee, 41, started ALLGLASS Window Cleaning about three years ago. For the past year and a half, he and his crew have been cleaning the windows of St. Louis Children’s Hospital dressed as superheroes. Around the same time, other companies across the country were starting to costume their window washers at children’s hospitals, including the likes of Captain America, Batman and Superman.

“It’s just for the kids,” McGehee said. “The kids look up, and their eyes get all big, and then this slow smile creeps across their face.” Weeks loves it so much, he didn’t want to take off his mask on his ride home after work. “Without the mask, without the kids, I’m just plain Andy,” he said. “So, I kept it on.”

HOW DID THEY GET UP THERE?

Isaiah Bush, 6, saw ropes hanging in front of his window, then what looked like rain and bubbles. “What is it?” said the boy, who loves watching Thor and The Avengers and pretending to fight bad guys with his little sister. They have a life-size Incredible Hulk on their bedroom wall. Isaiah has sickle cell disease, and had awakened in the middle of the night with a stomach ache and swollen spleen. A trip to the emergency room from his home in Belleville landed him in the hospital room.

The boy crawled into the window seat with his mom, Tamekia Bush, 34, to get a better look. Spider-Man suddenly peeked around the side, and they were face-to-face. “I cannot believe it,” Isaiah said. Spider-Man took an extra long time cleaning the window, throwing suds and water at the glass. The superhero shouted through the pane, “Hey, you feel better, OK?” Isaiah shouted back, “OK!” The boy was left wondering how Spider-Man got up there, how he disappeared so quickly. Spiderwebs, Isaiah concluded. “I think he jumped off the building.”

Andy "Spider-Man" Weeks peers into the room of patient Jacob Rodriguez, 10, of Glendale, as Weeks washes windows at St. Louis Children's Hospital. "That's the first smile I've seen in three days," said Beth Damsgaard-Rodriguez of her son Jacob, who came to the hospital Sunday with a burst appendix. A cousin gave Jacob a Superman pillow as a gift.

JUST TO SEE THEM SMILE

Spider-Man saves the day for the grownups too. Beth Damsgaard-Rodriguez, 48, said her son, Jacob Rodriguez, 10, was miserable and sore when the Marvel Comics hero waved through the window. “That’s exactly what Jacob needed at the time,” Damsgaard-Rodriguez said. “That was the first smile I saw in a couple days.” Two days before, the Glendale youth had an appendectomy after suffering from a painful burst appendix.

Being in the hospital is scary for Cody Mitchell, 17, of Quincy, Ill., said his mother. He has intractable epilepsy — medication can’t control his seizures. He’s had surgery to disconnect the two lobes of his brain, but the seizures won’t stop. Seeing Spider-Man made him happy. “He’s had a rough morning,” said his mother, Linda England, 37. “For him to be able to see that and smile, it made me feel so good.”

Brooklyn’s mother, Rachel Clifton, 40, can’t stand seeing her daughter in pain. Only tears come when she tries to talk about Brooklyn’s prognosis. Clifton can’t say the words. “It kills me to think about it,” she said. Clifton does what she can to make her happy. They get their nails done, drive around listening to Beyonce and spend Sundays watching Lifetime movies and eating Imo’s Pizza. When Clifton returned to her daughter’s hospital room after getting breakfast, she got to see her smile. Brooklyn beamed, “Spider-Man came to wash my windows!”

Window washers disguised as superheroes suprised children at a New York hospital Wednesday.

Superheroes on a special mission: lifting spirits of kids in the hospital (Washington Heights, N.Y.) - Window washers revealed superhero powers at a local children's hospital. They lifted spirits and thrilled sick kids watching from inside their hospital rooms. Superheroes really do exist in Gotham City. It was an all-star cast outside the windows of New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital Wednesday.

Batman, Spiderman and even a pair of Power Rangers, all there to bring smiles and hope to kids on the other side of the glass. "I have kids too, God bless me, and I can do this for the kids, I feel real good," said 'Batman'. It was the hospital's idea to ask some of its professional window washers to trade in their usual uniforms on this day, as the young patients perched themselves in windows, eager to greet these good guys.

Back on the ground, hospital staffers, including Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Captain America, also got in on the act. "What was it like to see all those superheroes out here?" we asked one youngster. "Great, the best part was taking a picture with them," she said.

Even the hospital's COO Kevin Hammeran, excuse me, 'Thor', paid a visit. "They're still kids, you can't ever forget that. And just because they happen to be in the hospital doesn't mean they shouldn't have a fun time and enjoy themselves and be distracted," said Hammeran.

Some of the kids in the hospital are literally fighting for their lives, and this day, just a random Wednesday, was a chance to bring them a little bit of happiness. "I love kids, it's amazing to see the smile on these kids," said Batman. Yes, superheroes do exist in Gotham City, and they showed off their most impressive strength: lifting spirits.

A Double Helping Of Super

A Squeegee Cleaning Services of Chelsea window washer dressed as Superman flexes for Reginae Bush, 5, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala. Window washers dressed as Superman, Spider-man, Batman and Captain America scaled down the 15-story hospital building stopping at every floor to see the kids.

Alabama hospital patients greeted by comic heroes (Birmingham, Ala.) - Patients at Children’s of Alabama waved and fist-bumped a few comic book heroes through the hospital’s windowpanes as the characters rappelled down the side of the 15-story building. Employees from Squeegee Cleaning Services of Chelsea dressed up as Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Captain America Tuesday and rappelled down the building to greet children on each floor. The visits were part of the hospital’s “Celebrating Our Heroes” week, which is part of an event at the hospital aimed at raising awareness of childhood cancer and sickle cell.

Some of the patients were dressed up in superhero costumes themselves, donning capes and masked that matched the heroes on the other side of the glass. Squeegee Cleaning Services partnered with Children's of Alabama to do the bi-annual window cleaning for the building, and made it more exciting for the young patients by wearing superhero costumes on the job. 

Superheroes Wash Windows at Geisinger (PLAINS TOWNSHIP) — Some might say that a hospital is full of superheroes, people who save lives and prevent illness. But a few real superheroes visited the children at Geisinger Wyoming Valley near Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! He’s working side by side with Spiderman, leaping the side of Geisinger Wyoming Valley near Wilkes-Barre in a single bound. “Today, we have our annual window washing, but with a special twist,” said Geisinger Chief Administrative Officer John Buckley.

The twist is the window washers are actually employees of a window washing company in Harrisburg. But on this day, they are dressed up as superheroes for the kids’ enjoyment. To the youngsters watching from inside, like little Kaylee Law of Jenkins Township, these are real superheroes. “It means the world to me because she gets to see something that she’s never saw up close like that before, so she was really in shock,” said Kaylee’s dad Michael Law.

It’s not just the children who get excited. “The caregiving team really gets a kick out of it themselves. We have a little bit of the debate about whose favorite superhero there is,” said Buckley. Making people happy is a lot to live up to, but not difficult for Spiderman or Superman. After all, with great power, comes great responsibility. “I never even turned around and seen what everyone else looking at us. She had my attention as much as I had her attention I bet,” said window washer Aaron “Superman” Jones. “She seemed so happy. She feels so much better. Since yesterday, she was really sick, and now today she’s more energetic, more active, more happy,” said Law. No doubt thanks to these heroes, who put smiles on faces faster than a speeding bullet.

Holy High Wire

Four of the strongest people on the planet came to pass some of their strength on to the patients.

Superheroes visit Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital: Young patients had some special visitors Monday at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. A crowd of people formed outside the hospital, looking to the sky, pointing at something. It was not a bird, a plane or even Life Lion, but superheroes Captain America, Batman, Spiderman and Superman.

Four of the strongest people on the planet came to pass some of their strength on to the patients. "Once we went over they started clapping for us, the kids started waving. We waved back, it was great," said Mark Barnaba, who dressed up as Superman. "I'm kind of into the comic thing. I think I like Thor the best, but I like these ones, too," said Paige Chubb, a 14-year-old from Carlisle who has been undergoing cancer treatments all year.

The superheroes used some of their muscle to propel down the sides of the hospital. The men behind the masks were window washers from North Eastern Building Maintenance; ordinary men with a super goal of helping brave little patients forget they are in a hospital.

"I just knew it would be perfect because just seeing the children smile, it just makes it all worth it," Barnaba said. "It makes me happy to see that people are so kind and are able to do this. I love it. It's just really cool," Chubb said. The idea began with a hospital employee. North Eastern Building Maintenance jumped on board and even paid for the superhero costumes.

Window washers dress in costumes at Pennsylvania children's hospital (HERSHEY, PA) - Some popular super heroes traded in their special powers for window washing equipment and converged on Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. Their mission, brighten the day of some of the youngest patients. One of those is C.J. Hoover who has been through so much in his first 17 months. The young boy fought a fierce battle with leukemia in March, and knocked the cancer into remission. But he's still back in the hospital almost every week for chemo and check-ups. "We're not in this alone and it's good to know there are people around us that support us and provide care and even a small thing like a smile," said Clayton Hoover, C.J.'s dad.

On Monday, C.J. and other young patients were surprised to see super heroes scaling the size of the hospital. A lot of the children were probably too young to fully appreciate the gesture, but their parents took it to heart. For a minute, the super heroes helped wipe their worries away. "We're in a comfortable place, we'll get through this and C.J. will come out just fine," Hoover said. In true superhero fashion, after saving the day, they quietly slipped away, off to their next mission. But they hoped to leave the young patients empowered to fight their health battles with the same kind of courage that comes with a cape.

Spiderman gives the high sign as he starts his descent down the walls of Texas Children's Hospital.

Holy highwire! Superheroes scale the walls of Texas Children's Hospital and clean up -  igh-flying superheroes Batman, Spiderman, Captain America and Superman thrilled patients at Texas Children's Hospital when they descended the slippery slopes of the 21-story building in the heart of the Texas Medical Center.


More than mere super Samaritans, these guys with muscles rippling and capes flying were super window washers with their buckets and squeegees in hand. As the costumed characters bounced from window to window, one young fellow exclaimed, "That's dangerous!" From his hospital bed, another youngster enthused, "Those superheroes were so awesome." In celebration of the visit, the youngsters worked on arts and crafts projects focusing on the superheroes. This was one surprise that patients and parents as well as hospital staff won't soon forget.

Superhero/super window washers prepare at Texas Children's Hospital.

Indonesian Spiderman

'Spider-Man' window cleaner, 37-year-old Teguh is seen without a mask. Click to supersize.

Indonesian Window Cleaner At Work In Spider-Man Uniform (Surabaya, Indonesia): Indonesian 'Spider-Man' window cleaner, 37-year-old Teguh is seen without a mask as he takes a break from cleaning the glass windows of the 18-storey Alana Hotel on July 12, 2013 in Surabaya, Indonesia. Teguh is a specialist glass window cleaner working on high-rise buildings wearing a Spider-Man uniform and working at an altitude of over 500 meters above ground level. He earns between Rp. 5 million ($500) and 15 million ($1500) depending on the height of the building and the level of difficulty.

Wolverine Scratches Glass At Kids Hospital

Wolverine scratches glass. Get a waiver signed!

Superheroes descend on CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario): Imagine being a child stuck in the hospital with a serious illness and all of a sudden Spiderman appears outside your window. And he’s not alone. Batman, Superman, Captain America and Wolverine are also crawling all over the building. That’s exactly what happened at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Tuesday. The costumed crime fighters were actually grime fighters – window washers dressed up as some of Earth’s mightiest heroes.

That distinction didn’t matter to the delighted children watching it all through the windows. Young Alex Capretta was sporting a Batman t-shirt. But he says Spiderman was his favourite “because Spiderman shoots webs.” The spectacle coincided with the kick-off to CHEO’s “be a hero for CHEO” campaign to raise awareness of this weekend’s CHEO Telethon. President and CEO Alex Munter says it’s a time when “everybody can be a superhero for CHEO.”

It was also a special day for the window washers. Martin Regimbald of Cody Window Cleaners says he’s never seen the crew so excited to go to work. “They’ve been showing off some pictures of their costumes. So they were all looking forward to this day,” he says. One, who simply went by the name Wolverine, said the joy he saw on children’s faces almost brought him to tears. But “wolverines don’t cry” he adds.

Organizers hope it will inspire everyone to be a hero and make a donation. The TD Bank Group is making it even easier. It’s encouraging people to visit CHEO’s Facebook page, or tweet using the hashtag #hero4cheo. If the campaign reaches 10,000 likes, shares, comments and tweets, TD will donate $10,000. The CHEO Telethon runs this weekend, June 8th and 9th, on CTV Ottawa. 

Superhero Window Washers - A lot of children could look out the window and see, is it a bird, a plane, or a window washer flying by just for them? It is proof that everyone has a superpower, even if it's just giving someone a brighter day. The windows still have to get cleaned. It was a natural, once somebody thought of it, to put the window cleaners in costumes. Give the kids a show. So, it's a trend, or supertrend? ..which started in Britain. Though for superman & these other guys, it's truth, justice and the American way. If you think you see ropes holding these guys up, you're looking at it the wrong way.