A man dressed as Spider-Man saw another man in a wheelchair trying to cross the street. He got out of his car and ran to help him without knowing he was being recorded.

His mom had to wake him from a nap to tell him he had become an internet sensation. Until then, he hadn’t even imagined that a traffic camera had captured his good deed. ❤️

20-year-old Christopher Hellenthal was returning from a children’s activity at the Ultimate Air trampoline park when he encountered an unexpected situation in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States, on July 21, 2026.

@nytimes

A man dressed as Spider-Man helped a person in a wheelchair cross a busy street in Arkansas on Tuesday. The man under the mask was Christopher Hellenthal, a college student returning from a summer job. “It just so happened this got caught on camera,” he said. spiderman

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He was still wearing his Spider-Man costume when, as he waited at a traffic light in his red Jeep, he saw a man in a wheelchair struggling to cross a six-lane avenue.

Realizing the man wouldn’t make it across before the light changed, he quickly got out of his vehicle and ran to help him. He pushed him to the other side and returned to his car, never imagining that the Jonesboro Police Department would end up sharing footage captured by a traffic camera.

The young man, who has admired Spider-Man since he was little, explained that he has always tried to follow Peter Parker’s example and recalled one of Aunt May’s lessons: there’s a hero inside all of us.

After the video went viral, Christopher said he hoped to inspire others to do the right thing when someone needed help, whether or not a camera was recording. Because, to him, anyone can become a hero without needing to wear a mask.