Peter Parker once said, “Not everyone is meant to make a difference,” but for our local Spider-Man Isaac Healy, making a difference is all he wants to do. Isaac is a Spider-Man cosplayer, and this summer he had the opportunity to visit an IWK activity room to entertain patients.
“It was really powerful for me,” says Issac. “To be able to make people smile that unfortunately in their day-to-day life may not always be smiling was amazing.” Isaac also joined the IWK Foundation for our 40th Telethon, answering the phones and taking pictures with patients, families and other attendees.
Ever since he was in high school, Isaac had the idea that he would love to go to the IWK as Spider-Man to cheer up the patients. Doing this would allow him to embody a character he loved while giving back to the place that saved his life.
Isaac was born with aplasia cutis congenita, which in his case, meant he was born without the top of his skull and the skin that would cover it. This left the tissue protecting his brain exposed, and Isaac’s future uncertain. But he would go on to receive 15 surgeries at the IWK to great success.
These surgeries included skin grafting and the implantation of artificial bone to build out his skull. His many surgeries were spread out throughout his childhood, especially tissue expander surgeries as he continued to grow. His last surgery took place in his early 20's to address a bone spur.
“The staff at the IWK, they go above and beyond for the care of their patients, and they go above and beyond for the care of the families,” says Issac. “It's just, it's amazing what they've done for me, I'm very lucky to be alive.”
Having all these surgeries throughout his childhood took a toll, but something that helped him get through it all was Spider-Man, who he was first introduced to through the comics his parents shared with him.
Watching Spider-Man movies, TV shows, and playing Spider-Man video games, has helped Isaac channel the carefree, humorous character of Peter Parker. It has also kept him up to date with new Spider-Man iterations, which is essential as current IWK patients have grown up with different Spider-Man media than he did.
Yet, it also brings him joy to impress the parents. “They're going to push that imagination further for their kids,” says Isaac. “That's the whole point of it, to keep the imagination and play going on for kids.”
Isaac was given his first Spider-Man suit in 2020. Since then, he has been cosplaying as Spider-Man on the Halifax waterfront and the live-streaming platform Twitch. His dream is to keep giving back to IWK Health, but if you don’t see him there, or working with the foundation, keep your eyes to the sky, you might just see our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man swinging around.
For those who work at the Daily Bugle, or just want to see what Isaac is up to, you can find him on Instagram @hfxspiderman.
