She helps kids discover their inner superhero!

To Lisa Kollins, there’s little difference between a young warrior battling a devastating illness and a storybook superhero fighting crime, and she’s found a unique way to transform young medical heroes into the superheroes of their own life story!

- Bill Holton 

What would we call you, if you were a super-hero?” Lisa Kollins asked 6-year-old Richie Montgomery as they sat in his hospital room. Richie suffers from a rare genetic disorder that leaves his muscles so weak, he needs a wheelchair. But his spirit is indomitable, and that was why Lisa had made a special trip to visit him.

Lisa is the founder of The Superhero Project, a nonprofit that celebrates the courage and positivity of kids who are battling serious illnesses by helping them discover their inner superhero.

Richie pondered Lisa’s question, then announced, “If I were a superhero, I would be Electric Force!”

Lisa listened as he told her all about his superhero self. How he would get around in his flying wheelchair that could shoot light beams of smiles.

“Wow!” Lisa marveled as she scribbled notes, which she then sent with Richie’s photo to one of her artists. A few weeks later, he received a poster of himself as Electric Force, along with a biography of his alter ego.

Richie was so excited. He hung the poster over his bed so he could see it first thing every morning. He also takes it with him anytime he goes to the hospital.

“I’m a superhero!” he proudly proclaims to all the doctors and nurses, his voice filled with determination to overcome any challenge.

Celebrating young warriors