Christian Bale may be a big star of the latest Batman movies, but he was humbled by a recent trip to Colorado to visit the victims of the Aurora movie theater shooting that took place during the premiere of the latest installment, "The Dark Knight Rises." Bale lifted the spirits of those who were injured and who are still trying to make sense of the tragedy that took place last Friday.
On Tuesday, Bale, who plays Batman in the movies, flew into Colorado to meet with some of the victims of the Colorado shooting that killed 12 people and left over 50 others injured. The star spent two and a half hours at the Medical Center of Aurora while he met with seven of the shooting victims who were hospitalized. Two of the victims came from the Swedish Medical Center to meet the star.
"The patients were really happy to meet Bale," Hospital interim president Bill Voloch told the Denver Post. "They are obviously big fans of his movies. They wanted to see Batman and were really pleased to see Bale."
One of the victims, Carey Rottman posted a photo of himself and Bale to his Facebook page. "Wow!!! Thank you so much for the visit Christian!! What a great guy! Still in shock!," Rottman wrote, according to KDVR.
"It was good for the patients," Voloch said. "We hope it was therapeutic for them, and all the staff really appreciated him coming."
In addition to meeting with victims, Bale and his wife Sibi Blazic took time to meet with some of the real life heroes of the shooting. They met with hospital staff, EMT's and police officers who were first responders after suspected shooter James Holmes,24, opened fire at the theater during the midnight movie premiere.
"He just said he wanted to come to thank all of us because he has been thinking about this. He knows the whole world has been thinking about this," Janie Bowman-Hayes, assistant vice president of surgical services at sister hospital Swedish Medical Center said, according to the Associated Press. "He took it upon himself to come and thank us."
Bale and his wife were also seen as a memorial that was set up for the victims of the shooting. He joined in with an impromptu prayer circle. "A couple next to me asked me to pray with them," resident Amanda Tyacke told KDVR. "There were about six or seven of us. And then prayer was over, and I was taking some pictures and realized who I was pretty much standing next to was Christian Bale."
After the shooting, a petition made waves around the internet asking Bale to visit the shooting victims on Change.org as well as in a Facebook campaign. There was no word on whether or not the internet requests had any influence on Bale's visit, but the actor was clearly affected by the tragedy before he made the trip.
Not long after the shooting took place, Bale released the following statement:
"Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them."
Anne Hathaway, who stars alongside Bale in "The Dark Knight Rises," also released a statement. "My heart aches and breaks for the lives taken and altered by this unfathomably senseless act," she said.
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