Earlier this month, an Atlanta hospice centre tweeted out the devastating story of Mukuta, an 11-year-old refugee from the Congo who is being treated in the United States for a terminal cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma. This particular cancer forms in the bile ducts and typically affects those 50 and over, but can happen at any age, according to the Mayo Clinic.
But Mukuta's cancer isn’t the thing that defines him. Like a lot of 11-year-old boys, it turns out Mukuta is a massive Batman fan, too.
"Hospice Atlanta is calling for Batman," Twitter user @EvilMelTucker posted. "Melissa has been next to Mukuta daily & has come to know that Batman is his favourite Superhero. He has cholangiocarcinoma. Sadly-His life is going to end soon (days/week)We need a Batman costume or someone to be the Batman themselves."
The request made its way to Affleck, who picked up the phone to FaceTime with the young fan.
"Mukuta didn’t recognise Ben as Batman when he first saw him via FaceTime," a source told Us Weekly. "Ben has a beard right now and the family laughed when Mukuta didn’t make the connection immediately."
Affleck didn’t just stop at a call. After learning more about Mukuta — specifically that his mother couldn’t afford the flight from Zimbabwe to be with her child in his last days — Affleck offered to pay for her ticket on the spot.
"Such a memorable day for Mukuta who's a super #Batman fan!" the centre wrote on Twitter. "He received a phone call from @BenAffleck today. Thanks to the widespread community support and helping us deliver on our mission: To Improve the Lives of Those We Serve."
Affleck responded that he's a "super Mukuta fan."
Affleck has been a longtime supporter of refugees in the Congo. As E! News explained, Affleck founded the Eastern Congo Initiative in 2010, an advocacy and grant-making initiative focused on working with and for the people of eastern Congo.
This article originally appeared on Men's Health
