(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Cooper Baskett, 3, assumes the role of Jack-Jack from the movie "The Incredibles" as a small army of volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake put the finishing touches on his Incredimobile and those of another 27 patients in wheelchairs for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Cooper, who has skeletal dysplasia, relished the attention, frequently flashing some of his character's signature moves. "This is something he gets to have all his own," exclaimed his mother, Tonya Baskett.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Annika Ellefsen, 4, is all smiles as Princess Leia in her Millennium Falcon as volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake transform the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Annika, who has spina bifida, loves her visits to Shriner's, according to her mother, Jennifer. Last year her wheelchair was transformed into a princess carriage and "she beamed all night long," exclaimed her mother.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jonathan Clark, 6, sits inside his new monster truck as Claire Behnke and Mitch Peace modify a wheelchair costume kit along with other volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jonathan Clark, 6, tries out his new monster truck conversion as his dad, Jeremy, pushes him around at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. For the third year in a row, volunteers and staff transformed the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kayden Matagi, 7, takes his pirate ship for a spin with the help of his mother, Shellise, as volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake transform the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Phyllis Choate gets to celebrate her fifth birthday as Princess Poppy in a cupcake as volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake transform the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Phyllis, who was born with a brain bleed and has white matter loss in her brain that kept her from speaking, saw improvement with her speech when she saw the "Trolls" movie. "The movie was a big turning point for her," exclaimed her mother, Shannon, "her whole world is 'Trolls,' and the song 'True Colors' was one of the first things she said at age 4."
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jeffrey Holder, 11, assumes his role as Batman as volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake transform the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jonathan Clark, 6, gets a little help from his dad, Jeremy, as he peeks through a werewolf cutout as volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake transform his wheelchair into a monster truck for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Annika Ellefsen, 4, is all smiles as Princess Leia in her Millennium Falcon as volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake transform the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Annika, who has spina bifida, loves her visits to Shriners, according to her mother, Jennifer. Last year her wheelchair was transformed into a princess carriage and "she beamed all night long," exclaimed her mother.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Cooper Baskett, 3, assumes the role of Jack-Jack from the movie "The Incredibles" as an army of volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake finish his Incredimobile and those of another 27 patients in wheelchairs for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Cooper, who has skeletal dysplasia, relished the attention, frequently flashing some of his character's signature moves. "This is something he gets to have all his own," exclaimed his mother, Tonya Baskett.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Cooper Baskett, 3, assumes the role of Jack-Jack from the movie "The Incredibles" as an army of volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake put the finishing touches on his Incredimobile and those of another 27 patients in wheelchairs for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Phyllis Choate, who was celebrating her fifth birthday, engages with Cooper Baskett, 3, dressed as Jack-Jack from "The Incredibles" as they wait for their wheelchairs to be transformed for Halloween. Volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake modified the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ethan Clegg, 8, is all smiles after getting a spin in his new Batmobile as volunteers and staff at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake transform the wheelchairs of 28 patients for Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
Cooper Baskett embodied Jack-Jack from the movie “The Incredibles 2” as volunteers at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Salt Lake City transformed his wheelchair into the Incredimobile. Mimicking a fight scene with a raccoon from the movie, Cooper, 3, put his fists up as he delighted in the attention.
“This is something he gets to have all his own,” said his mother, Tonya Baskett, as they got their first look at his Halloween costume. Cooper, who has skeletal dysplasia, doesn’t get to run around like his cousins, which usually makes the holiday difficult. However, this year the whole family plans to dress up as characters from the same family of superheroes.
For the third year in a row, Shriners put on a costume clinic to trick out and transform the wheelchairs for kids. In its first year, the volunteers helped eight children. On Wednesday, it was 28.
Volunteers tried to cater to the desires of each kid, crafting costumes out of cardboard, fabric, PVC pipe, paint and foam.
Gathered under seven canopies, crews worked on the chairs of four kids throughout the day, with a two-hour window for each transformation.
With a little bit of advance planning, the teams were ready for each kid turning their chairs into Batmobiles, monster trucks, cupcakes, princess carriages, Millennium Falcons, pirate ships and fighter jets.
Employees with Spirit Halloween, a costume retailer, volunteered during last year’s event and saw the need for wheelchair costumes. This year, the company helped craft four costumes.
One of those was a monster truck assembled around Jonathan Clark, 6, who has cerebral palsy. His dad, Jeremy, who’s in the process of adopting his fourth child with special needs from Bulgaria — was excited to watch his son’s eyes light up. Jonathan, who is part of a special needs baseball league in West Jordan, will get to move around in his new wheels for the upcoming showcase indoor baseball game. Clark said: “It will be cool to see him run the bases in a monster truck."
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