The moment a comic star met a little Hornchurch hero

He may be the world’s most famous superhero, but Spiderman took time out of his busy crime-fighting schedule to surprise a very special fan, four-year-old Milan Lall.

The Hornchurch youngster was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes, in January.

Throughout his treatment in Great Ormond’s Street Hospital, in central London, the brave youngster loved watching films of his comic idol - and his greatest wish, he told staff, was to meet Spidey!

The dream came true when Make-A-Wish Foundation - the charity that grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses – intervened after Milan finished a gruelling two months of chemotherapy.

The youngster was taken by limousine to Virgin Active Clements Hall, in Rayleigh, Essex., where spent the day learning how to climb up walls the web-spinning man himself.

Milan says that his favourite part was “all of it” but for mum Harpeet it was seeing her son’s face when he saw Spiderman for the first time.

She said: “Milan’s wish felt like closure. It was a celebration of him finishing his treatment and starting to be ‘normal’ again. Normality is what he has missed; he just wants to do all the things he did before.”

“Make-A-Wish exceeded our expectations, we can’t thank you enough.”

There are currently 20,000 children and young people in the UK fighting a life-threatening illness and this year alone 1,200 children will turn to Make-A-Wish to have their wish granted. The charity needs to raise �5.5 million in 2011 to achieve this.

To refer a child for a wish or to make a donation, please visit: www.make-a-wish.org.uk or telephone 01276 40 50 60.