9-year-old NJ ‘superhero’ loses battle with cancer, days after parade in his honor

JERSEY CITY - A "superhero" has died.

"Rest in peace our superhero," read a tweet from the Jersey City school district confirming the death of 9-year-old Parth Patel who was afflicted with Ewing sarcoma, a form of cancer in children and adolescents that forms a tumor in bone or soft tissue.

Jersey City police officer Adrien Murrell organized a parade in his honor on Wednesday. It started at his home on Nelson Avenue and ended at PS 27 where he was in the fourth grade. He had not been able to attend class in the finals weeks of his life, but Murrell put together the parade in a matter of several days.

“So many amazing people came together” to help her organize the parade. “I have to thank them a lot. They really came through for Parth," Murrell, who lost her brother to cancer, said of the parade. Murrell said she made so many phone calls her phone ran out of battery power several times.

The end result was hundreds of his fellow students at PS 27, fire and police celebrated Patel as he rode along with "Batman" in a "batmobile."

“He was so happy! He was excited. I just wanted to see him smiling and he did that so many times (Wednesday). That was rewarding for me,” Murrell said.

Murrell came up with a super hero theme for the parade.

“That boy is a strong kid. Let me tell you something: When I was in his house he did not want us to know he was in pain. Obviously we knew it, but he didn’t want to go to the hospital or lay in his hospital bed in the living room.”

“I’m not taking credit for this. That was God’s. His hands were all in this,” Murrell said.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.