NICOLE Breeze's eight-year-old daughter Abigail was already a hero in her eyes.
She'd confronted the fear and uncertainty of hospital stays, wrangled drips and tubes and faces a daily battle with a rare disease that causes the small blood vessels in her skin, joins, intestines and kidneys to become inflamed and bleed.
Diagnosed with Henoch-Schnlein purpura at just two years old, Ms Breeze said the early days of the diagnosis were overwhelming.
But, having a Supertee - a Marvel medical garment that allows doctors and nurses to easily attach wires and tubes - helped her daughter embrace her inner superpower.
"Originally she was being treated with immune-suppressant medication, now her kidneys are in remission but she is classed as 'medically complex'," Ms Breeze said.
"Abigail has canulas often and she hates them, Supertee gives us the flexibility to get in and out of clothes when we need to without the added pressure of trying to navigate a normal t-shirt.
"Hospital gowns Abbie wasn't a fan of, they're very boring and plain for a little person in hospital and a lot of people look at a gown and think it makes them look sick, she doesn't want to look sick she wants to look awesome - so it's a little escape from reality."
Supertee is the brainchild of Jason Sotiris, a tradesman who's daughter was diagnosed with cancer at just one-year-old.
Now, at least 300 other kids will have the opportunity to wear their superpower, after Newcastle Permanent Building Society (NPBS) made a $13,000 donation to the charity and staff helped pack the shirts ready to be sent to John Hunter Hospital this week.
When NPBS chief strategy and governance officer Chris Cockburn heard about Supertee, he said he was blown away.
"Having been taken through all the garment's features - the open underarms for thermometer access, press studs evenly spaced for bypass tubes and lines, as well as being PET scan and MRI friendly - Supertee is clearly a really practical way to help sick kids," he said.
"Any practical way that we can help make sick kids' lives a little bit easier, that's what attracted the team to contribute to it.
"When heard about some of the challenges these poor children face and what is quite an innovative solution to make their lives a little bit easier when they are going through some of the illness they are going through, we wanted to be involved."
