<\/a>Irene moved to New York to be with her superhero boyfriend \u2013 Phantom Zero. Additional photos: John Frost<\/p><\/div>
\n\u2018I became involved in the movement six years ago when I was living in Kansas. Surfing the internet when I as 16, I stumbled across the MySpace page of \u201cDoctor DiscorD\u201d \u2013 a crime-fighting superhero in Indianapolis, who patrolled his local community in costume, breaking up fights and stopping people drink-driving. While some ridiculed him, I was amazed there were actually people out there dedicating their free time to protecting
\nothers. And it really struck a chord with me. I witnessed my mother being assaulted when I was a child \u2013 and
\nher terror as she realised there was no one there to help her. I don\u2019t think she ever escaped her fear of the man who hurt her. She died when I was 13 of cirrhosis of the liver.
\n\u2018That\u2019s when I vowed never to let anyone control or hurt me. My mother\u2019s premature death also gave me a deep sense of urgency. I didn\u2019t want to die unfulfilled, before I could do any good for others.
\n\u2018So, aged 17 and still at school, I decided to go on my first \u201cpatrol\u201d. I didn\u2019t tell anyone what I was doing \u2013 my family were very strict and would have been horrified. Meanwhile, I was worried my friends would think I was crazy. After all, our usual idea of a night out was the cinema! To make sure no one recognised me, I wore a mask over my face. On a student budget, I dressed all in black, with fingerless gloves and a utility belt for my torch and camera.
\n\u2018I know it\u2019s our costumes that make a lot of people dismiss us as weird or fantasists. After all, what right-minded 22-year-old would really swap her maxidress and wedges for a black bodysuit and face mask? It\u2019s simple. Donning a uniform is liberating and can make you feel braver. Looking back, I didn\u2019t know what I was hoping to achieve on that first patrol. I suppose I was a bit naive and could have got into real trouble. I walked around my neighbourhood before getting the courage up to head to the rough part of town. Every sound made me jump, but nothing noteworthy happened. When I got home I felt exhilarated though, buoyed that if there had been someone in need, I could have tried to help them.
\n\u2018With drugs a real problem in my neighbourhood, I decided to focus on the local dealers. I wasn\u2019t stupid enough to try to tackle them myself. Instead, I would photograph the drug dens from the outside then send the pictures to the police. Looking back, I put myself in some dangerous situations and often felt jittery.
\nBut I felt proud that I was trying to make my community a nicer place to live.
\n\u2018Shortly after starting my own patrols, I got in touch with other real-life superheroes online \u2013 there are now about 200 around the world. One I met was also an accountant by day, and at night he patrolled the streets feeding the homeless. Phantom Zero, whose real name I won\u2019t reveal to protect his identity, invited me to visit him in New York.
\n\u2018On every street corner it seemed there was someone in need of help \u2013 children as young as 10, sleeping rough, starving and scared. It was so overwhelming that I realised I had to stay and help. So, I got a job at an accountancy firm in New York and, three years on, Phantom Zero is not only my street partner, but my boyfriend. We live together, though, not as people like to imagine, in some sort of bat cave, with a revolving wall that hides our costumes. I wish! In our modest apartment there are no clues of our secret double life.
\n\u2018During daylight hours our lives are no different from our friends. We work 9 to 5, come home, cook dinner and eat it in front of the telly. It\u2019s just that, one night a week, while normal people go to bed, we head into the night and don\u2019t return until dawn.
\n\u2018In an ideal world I\u2019d do more, but it has to fit around my day job. We sometimes patrol during the day at weekends, but there are friends to see (who have no idea what we do) and the supermarket shop to do! It can be hard to switch off which is where the costume comes in handy. In our civilian clothes I try to think as Irene and turn off my \u201cdanger\u201d radar so I\u2019m not permanently on edge.
\n\u2018Some might argue being a have-a-go hero is dangerous. But I\u2019d never get into a fight. We\u2019re more an extra pair of eyes on the streets and our motto is \u201cHelp anyone who needs assistance\u201d. That doesn\u2019t necessarily mean tackling muggers or saving people from burning buildings \u2013 it could be as simple as giving a homeless
\nman a sandwich or volunteering at a hospital. Whatever your community needs.
\n\u2018There\u2019s one superhero in Liberia who educates local families about the dangers of child traffickers. He has to wear a mask to protect his identity, otherwise the traffickers would come after him. Then there\u2019s \u201cMr Extreme\u201d \u2013 a superhero in San Diego \u2013 who learned a sexual predator on the police\u2019s wanted list was last seen in his neighbourhood, so handed out flyers with the culprit\u2019s picture on. The man has since been apprehended and the local government thanked him for his assistance.
\n\u2018Most real-life superheroes are extremely protective of their real identities. I don\u2019t publicise what I do to my colleagues. I don\u2019t want to be praised or \u2013 at worst \u2013 mocked for my work. Instead, I want others to realise that everyone has the capability to make a difference.
\n\u2018There\u2019s a superhero in all of us… so what are you waiting for?\u2019
\nHair and make-up: Spring Super at Ennis Inc Additional photos: John Frost
\nNewspapers For more info, visit www.reallifesuperheroes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Grazia, Issue 314, April 4th expose on Nyx and Phantom Zero<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[665,757,1293,1761,1787,1840,1902,2031,2041,2548,2698,2977],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}