PHOENIX — He's known for being mean, green, and incredible, but on Tuesday, original Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno was a real-life superhero.
He stopped by a Valley school for children who are deaf and hard of hearing to show them how to embrace their own superpowers.
Ferrigno showed students of Desert Voices in Phoenix how his life has improved since he decided to get a cochlear implant.
"I'm a big action taker. So, that changed my life tremendously. That's why I'm very happy to be here talking to you people because there's so much hope that people can have better hearing, better lifestyle," said Ferrigno.
The 71-year-old has dealt with undertreated hearing loss since childhood but says he's never let it hold him back, instead turning it into his own superpower.
"For me my whole life, I've learned to embrace fear because all of us we have a fear factor, and when you embrace that fear makes you a determined warrior to fight it," Ferrigno explained.
It's a story similar to the one in Super Kena: A Girl Made Fierce with Hearing Aids, which Ferrigno read to the students.
In the book, Kena learns to embrace her hearing loss and gathers her differently-abled classmates to create a team of superheroes.
The whole experience left parents and students feeling super.
"All the kids love superheroes," said Desert Voices Executive Director Scott Smith, "They love all the comics and the movies and the characters and to be able to meet the Incredible Hulk himself, I think is just really motivating and inspiring for them."
"Since I had a cochlear implant that changed my life," added Ferrigno, "And that's why I share my story with the children because I was the same way as them, wearing hearing aids, and they feel like they have a hero to look up to."