South Hills boy among those honored as superhero by Harrison-based group

A Harrison-based nonprofit rolled out the red carpet for a South Hills hero Sunday, one who has stared death in the face twice and whose crusade earned him a spot in the 2021 Superheroes Believe in Miracles calendar.

Sean Rovers, at 12, has gone through two brain surgeries to remove tumors after he was diagnosed with central nervous system sarcoma. He underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor on the lining of his brain in October 2017.

Five months later, doctors discovered the tumor not only had returned, but there were three of them. He underwent his second brain surgery in April 2018.

The courage with which he faced those surgeries and continues to show as he battles his condition is what caught the attention of Amy Faltot and her nonprofit, Superheroes Believe in Miracles. The organization, born out of her own child’s hospital stay as an infant, sends birthday packages to any child suffering from physical or emotional illness. Each year, a dozen children are chosen to dress up as their favorite superhero and star in a photo shoot for a hero-themed calendar.

“These kids have courage, they’re brave, and they face every single difficulty with the grace of a superhero,” Faltot said Sunday outside Sean’s home in Bethel Park. “What (Sean) has endured and what he currently endures daily would make even the best superhero look at him in awe.”

Sean, who turns 13 on Dec. 23 — the same day he returns to the doctor to see whether he remains tumor-free — dressed as the Flash for his photo shoot.

Faltot normally hosts a gala in which the children walk a red carpet and receive their own calendars and copies of their photos, but the covid-19 pandemic made that impossible this year. Instead, she brought the red carpet celebration to each child. On Sunday, Sean was presented with his own calendar and framed photo of himself as the Flash.

“It’s amazing,” he said of seeing the photos. “I feel as if I could run for miles.”

He posed for photos on the red carpet, holding up his portrait alongside his mother and three brothers.

“It makes me feel brave — braver than I’ve ever been,” he said.

His mother, Maria, said he is upbeat even though he will spend his birthday undergoing an MRI to see whether his treatments have held. She said he told her recently that even if the news is bad, he’ll take it in stride, noting that he’s already faced death twice.

“It’s beyond what you can imagine,” she said of the calendar presentation and red carpet treatment. “Amy is doing a wonderful thing. ‘Thank you’ is an understatement.”