#TBT: Young Boy With Hemophilia Featured in Marvel Comic Book

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by Wendy Henderson |

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When young Max Levy had to have a port put in his chest for hemophilia medication, his family nicknamed him Iron Man after one of his favorite Marvel action heroes. The story touched a lot of hearts and was even shared by Robert Downey Jr. on his Facebook page.

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Max suffers from severe hemophilia A and needs to take regular medication and clotting factor to manage the disease. When he was 3, Max needed to have a port fitted. His dad, Dan Levy, was worried about how his son would take the news, so he came up with the novel idea of linking it back to Iron Man, and how Tony Stark had to have an arc reactor put into his chest.

The nickname stuck and soon his family used the hashtag #IronMax whenever they talked about Max’s progress on their social media accounts. According to the Daily Mail, Marvel heard about Max’s story and reached out to the family and asked if they could include Max in one of their comic strips.

In December 2015, Max appeared as himself in an episode of the Invincible Iron Man where he helps out the super hero when he’s in hospital having treatment for hemophilia.

MORE: How kids can explain hemophilia to their friends

 

 

 

 

 

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