HAVERHILL, Mass. — Every year, Tom Hardy designs creative costumes for his son, Tommy, by transforming a simple wheelchair into magical and inventive characters.
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For one night every year. Tommy goes trick-or-treating in the coolest Halloween costume in the neighborhood. His father has been working around the clock to create this year's “Game of Thrones”-inspired costume.
The Hardy family loves “Game of Thrones,” so it was only fitting that little Tommy would be flying with dragons this Halloween.
The massively popular HBO show got Hardy thinking about how to design a fun costume for Tommy this year.
“Seeing the dragon and then trying to figure out how we could actually get a wheelchair dragon was really a fun challenge," Hardy said.
Now Tommy will trick-or-treat on a white walker dragon, with wings that flap and eyes that glow.
"We're definitely happy with the way it turned out, the details and everything," Hardy said.
Tommy has cerebral palsy and autism, and for years his dad has made sure he has the best time during Halloween with the coolest costume on the block.
We first introduced you to the family last year when Hardy turned Tommy's wheelchair into an X-Wing fighter from "Star Wars." Before that, he was the Red Baron from "Peanuts" and a pirate and SpongeBob Squarepants.
"But when he's in the neighborhood he loves that all eyes are on him and all the kids are smiling, like, 'That's awesome!' giving him high fives. It's great for him. I think he loves the positive attention, not the attention of a child in a wheelchair," Hardy says.
Hardy’s friend Gary Sewell helps build all the costume.
"Makes it all worth it just to see the pleasure and his father, too. Seeing his father's pleasure and being able to do something like this is just very fun," Sewell says.
Hardy said the costumes take 40 to 50 hours to complete, and cost around $75.
The only thing the duo is missing for their creation this year is the fire the dragon will breathe. Hardy said right now they're looking to get a fog machine hooked up in the back of the dragon so Tommy can go trick-or-treating sporting his new elaborate costume.