Girl battling cystic fibrosis designs superhero costume with ASU students

Little girl with cystic fibrosis designs superhero costume with ASU students

PHOENIX - The pink camouflage superhero costume Super Ava is wearing is something special, something she created herself.

"That's why she has the pink camo and on her shoulders, she has her brother's name on an Army patch for him, so she wanted to include him," Ava's mom said. "He's been gone now for about a year. He's been stationed for three years in Germany."

Mom says the entire journey was an incredible one for Ava who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth, a genetic disease her mom says affects Ava's digestive system and lungs.

"Ava has more of a problem with her digestive system, so she's had about eight surgeries on her bowels and her stomach, no real bad issues with her lungs, but she does take two breathing treatments a day and therapy and takes about 14 prescriptions every day."

It all started a couple of months ago.

"A [of] couple months ago, our social worker from our cystic fibrosis team at Phoenix Children's Hospital approached us with the opportunity for Ava to work with a fashion designer at Power Play and get to create her own superhero costume," mom said. "They followed Ava and she got to work with two different fashion designers and made two different costumes to be a superhero because she has been through so many things at Phoenix Children's Hospital -- a lot of surgeries and stuff."

The movie premiered on the night of April 16.

"You know, we have to go to Phoenix Children's Hospital quite often, she has a number of doctors that follow her," Ava's mom said. "Most of her experiences at the hospital are tough blood draws, very, very long appointments, X-ray screenings, breathing treatments -- it's not a very fun experience for her, so making something with the hospital that gets to be so fun was a really good experience for her."

Ava designed the costume with the help of student fashion designers from Arizona State University's School of Art in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

The movie is called Power Play and donations are encouraged to watch it.

Phoenix Children Hospital's Power Play
https://phoenixchildrensfoundation.org/signature/powerplay/