Man spends 100 hours creating Halloween costume for son with cerebral palsy

HAVERHILL, Mass. (WJAR) - A Massachusetts man went to great lengths to create an epic Halloween costume for his son.

News outlets report Tom Hardy and his friends put in nearly 100 hours in his Haverhill garage to turn his son's wheelchair into an iconic Air Force jet -- the SR-71 Blackbird.

Hardy's 15-year-old son, Tommy, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. He is autistic and nonverbal. Hardy said the time and effort is well spent because his son is a typical teenager who loves Halloween.

"To watch Tommy light up and not only him light up trick-or-treating as a kid, but also seeing the other kids around him. Just being like, 'Oh, that's an awesome costume, bud.' They're not looking at him like he's in a wheelchair. Just seeing an awesome costume and a little kid going out, having some fun," Hardy said.

The elaborate costumes have become a family tradition for the Hardy family.

One year, Tommy rode one of the dragons from "Game of Thrones" and another year he rode a police car.