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This photographer transforms sick and disabled children into Justice League Superheroes

7 min read

Good Stuff
Source: JoshRossi.com

A photographer and his wife worked with a costume designer to create the most epic photoshoot of children living with disease or disability.

Real-life Superheroes are among us!

Last year, photographer Josh Rossi spent $1,500 transforming his 3-year-old daughter into Wonder Woman for a photoshoot that went viral. This year sees another passion project for Josh and his wife Roxana, and it’s for a fantastic cause: he has been photographing children living with diseases and disabilities as Justice League Superheroes!

The real-life justice league Josh Rossi set out a few months ago to find the REAL Justice League and photograph them. The kids that he and his team chose have been to hell and back and have real superhuman strength! Source: Facebook/BrightVibes

“The whole idea was to take the things that are weaknesses… and turn them into strengths,”

Photographer Josh Rossi and his wife Roxana worked with the talented costume designer Julie Whiteley to create the most epic photoshoots of children living with disease and disability.

“The whole idea was to take the things that are weaknesses for the kids such as cancer and other diseases and turn them into strengths,” Rossi told Michael Zhang, for PetaPixel“I worked with 6 kids under the age of 8 and completed a movie poster style image for each of them.

The custom replica costumes created for each of the kids were valued at over $10,000, but each one was donated for this good cause. Once the photos were planned, shot, and edited, Rossi created giant framed prints and surprised each child on camera.

“It was amazing seeing the excitement on their faces!” Rossi says. 

See below, Kayden Kinckle‘s cool transformation into Cyborg, from DC Comics’ Justice League, and scroll through the rest of this Junior Justice League of Superheroes…

Source: PetaPixel

Kayden was born with Omphalocele, which caused his internal organs to grow outside his navel. The doctors told his mom to abort him because he was going to be in bad shape but instead she decided to save her son even though it meant causing his legs to be amputated.
Kayden Kinckle is a 5-yr-old who has been a double amputee for most of his life Kayden was born with Omphalocele, which caused his internal organs to grow outside his navel. The doctors told his mom to abort him because he was going to be in bad shape but instead she decided to save her son even though it meant causing his legs to be amputated. Source: FulltimePhotographer.com
In Cyborg's younger years he was a healthy boy until he had a horrible accident. His father kept him alive by giving him robotic parts. Kayden is the first Justice League member!
Kayden had a similar story as the superhero Cyborg from the Justice League In Cyborg’s younger years he was a healthy boy until he had a horrible accident. His father kept him alive by giving him robotic parts. Kayden is the first Justice League member! Source: FulltimePhotographer.com

For more info on Kayden or if you want to help you can visit Kayden’s Facebook page HERE or buy his book HERE which helps pay for medical bills.

Sofie was diagnosed at only 3 yrs old with a rare form of cancer called Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma. Sofie's dream was to always have long dark hair but when she got cancer she lost all of it. A few days before the photoshoot Sofie had finished radiation therapy so she was very weak. In spite of the exhausting treatments she came and did her poses for the photoshoot with fierceness.
Our second Justice League member is Sofie Loftus Sofie was diagnosed at only 3 yrs old with a rare form of cancer called Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma. Sofie’s dream was to always have long dark hair but when she got cancer she lost all of it. A few days before the photoshoot Sofie had finished radiation therapy so she was very weak. In spite of the exhausting treatments she came and did her poses for the photoshoot with fierceness. Source: FulltimePhotographer.com
A few days before the photoshoot Sofie had finished radiation therapy so she was very weak. In spite of the exhausting treatments she came and did her poses for the photoshoot with fierceness. In the image above you can see that Sofie's right eye is swollen and red from the radiation.
Sofie is a real fighter and fits perfectly as Wonder Woman! A few days before the photoshoot Sofie had finished radiation therapy so she was very weak. In spite of the exhausting treatments she came and did her poses for the photoshoot with fierceness. In the image above you can see that Sofie’s right eye is swollen and red from the radiation. Source: FulltimePhotographer.com

For more info on Sofie visit her GoFundMe page HERE.

Teagan has had 3 open heart surgeries and several more to tune him up. He takes a lot of medication and wears oxygen at night and recently got his g-tube (feeding tube) taken out. His family almost lost him 2 years ago and had to take him to Philadelphia for a life-saving procedure, after waiting for over a year for a heart transplant.
Teagan Pettit was born with only half a heart, known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Teagan has had 3 open heart surgeries and several more to tune him up. He takes a lot of medication and wears oxygen at night and recently got his g-tube (feeding tube) taken out. His family almost lost him 2 years ago and had to take him to Philadelphia for a life-saving procedure, after waiting for over a year for a heart transplant. Source: FulltimePhotographer.com
Where a healthy child's body would warm up naturally such as in a cool pool on a hot day Teagan would come out with blue lips and have to be warmed up with blankets or another heat source. Teagan's condition could fail any day because of his heart, but he keeps moving forward. Superman and Teagan both have hearts of steel!
After multiple surgeries Teagan is a strong 9 yr-old who absolutely LOVES Superman! Where a healthy child’s body would warm up naturally such as in a cool pool on a hot day Teagan would come out with blue lips and have to be warmed up with blankets or another heat source. Teagan’s condition could fail any day because of his heart, but he keeps moving forward. Superman and Teagan both have hearts of steel! Source: FulltimePhotographer.com

For more info on Teagan you can visit his Facebook page HERE.

This little man is a powerhouse! The day of the photoshoot he woke up with a fever after just barely finishing a round of chemo. His parents brought him to the hospital and after a few days was able to do the photoshoot.
Mataese Manuma is only 2 yrs old and has a form of cancer called Acute Megakaryoblastic Leukemia This little man is a powerhouse! The day of the photoshoot he woke up with a fever after just barely finishing a round of chemo. His parents brought him to the hospital and after a few days was able to do the photoshoot. Source: FulltimePhotographer.com
'In photoshop I had to do a little bit of stitching together such as a head here and a body there but in the end it turned out great. Mataese just like Aquaman from the movie are of Polynesian decent and so I thought it would be a perfect fit to be the God of the water.' - Josh Rossi
Since Mataese is so young and also weak from treatments his brother helped him out with some of the poses ‘In photoshop I had to do a little bit of stitching together such as a head here and a body there but in the end it turned out great. Mataese just like Aquaman from the movie are of Polynesian decent and so I thought it would be a perfect fit to be the God of the water.’ – Josh Rossi Source: FulltimePhotographer.com

For more info on Mataese you can visit his GoFundMe HERE.

Zaiden was excited to run but wasn't able to sit still in school to wait for his turn. His parents were called to come pick him up and when his dad opened the door he saw Zaiden in tears. All he wanted to do was run. Slowly Zaiden's friends stopped inviting him to events and birthday parties and his mom said she the
7 yr-old Zaiden Stolrow has severe ADHD and loves to run, which got him in trouble at school Zaiden was excited to run but wasn’t able to sit still in school to wait for his turn. His parents were called to come pick him up and when his dad opened the door he saw Zaiden in tears. All he wanted to do was run. Slowly Zaiden’s friends stopped inviting him to events and birthday parties and his mom said she the “light leave from his eyes.” This poor boy who needs friends and connection suddenly becoming an outcast. Source: FulltimePhotographer.com
After Josh heard this story he told himself he was going to take Zaiden's weakness and turn it into a strength. He thought that turning Zaiden into The Flash would be perfect. Maybe now his friends will not only invite him to their parties but ask him to bring the suite and be the life of the party. Go Zaiden!
Turning Zaiden into The Flash would be perfect After Josh heard this story he told himself he was going to take Zaiden’s weakness and turn it into a strength. He thought that turning Zaiden into The Flash would be perfect. Maybe now his friends will not only invite him to their parties but ask him to bring the suite and be the life of the party. Go Zaiden! Source: FulltimePhotographer.com
Simon is a quirky strong kid who
Simon Fullmer is only 5 and diagnosed with a rare form of nerve cancer called Neuroblastoma Simon is a quirky strong kid who “never complains” says his mom. He absolutely loves Batman and also Bruce Wayne “because he is rich.” Simon’s mom Trisha said this about her son…”Simon is a very literal kid, he wants to know exactly what is going on and can tell when you are trying to sugarcoat it. He asks every doctor/nurse exactly what they are doing. He’ll even correct them now when they forget to do something!” Source: Fulltimephotographer.com
Simon is a tough kid and has dealt all of this like a true super hero which makes him perfect for the character Batman! Source: FulltimePhotographer.com

For more info on Simon, visit HERE.

You can find more of Rossi’s work on his website, Facebook, and Instagram.

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