Brayden Denton, 5, gets superheroes funeral after cancer fight

A five-year-old boy in Indiana who died of a rare form of brain cancer was given a superheroes sendoff in Indiana, with pallbearers dressed as his favourite comic book characters.

The six pallbearers at last week's funeral in Newton County were dressed as Superman, Spider-Man, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Batman.

The little boy from Kentland died of an aggressive form of brain cancer on May 8, and his mom, Staci Denton, decided to give him a sendoff he would have appreciated.

Brayden's uncle, Cory Denton, who was dressed as Thor, helped carry his nephew's casket.

"It was hard, but I did it for him," he told CBS affiliate WLFI-TV.

"The whole time I saw them carrying Brayden, he was probably up there going, 'This is so cool,'" Staci Denton told the New York Daily News. "That was his world. That's what he would have wanted."

Brayden loved all the comic book heroes and collected their action figures, but Spider-Man was his favourite, she said. Last year, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, her son met that superhero at Universal Studios in Florida.

Brayden had been diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare form of brain cancer, in April 2013. He died at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis after a battle that included undergoing 30 rounds of radiation.

His family wrote in his obituary posted online that he was the "typical American boy" who would watch the Spider-Man movies "over and over."

They said he enjoyed all sports, but "absolutely loved baseball."

Doctors gave him the OK to play on a T-ball team last June even though he was undergoing cancer treatments.