#ForceForDaniel worked! JJ Abrams grants a terminally ill ‘Star Wars’ fan his dying wish
For the past several days, we have been tweeting #ForceForDaniel to help grant 32-year-old Daniel Fleetwood his dying wish: to see the new Star Wars movie before it’s too late.
Daniel, who is suffering from a connective tissue cancer called spindle cell carcoma, doesn’t have much time left. It’s been four months since the doctors gave him two months to live back in July. But Daniel is a massive Star Wars fan, and he’s seen every film the day it came out. The thought of not being able to see The Force Awakens before its premiere in December was absolutely heartbreaking to him. Earlier this week Daniel’s wife Ashley tweeted the below plea.
“Judging by how progressive the disease has gotten in the past two months, I really don’t think that I’ll be able to make it [to December],” Daniel told Houston’s KPRC-TV earlier this week. Hundreds took to Twitter to tweet #ForceForDaniel to spread awareness about Daniel’s plight, and to implore Disney to help grant him his dying wish before it’s too late.
And now, Daniel’s wife, Ashley, just took to Facebook to tell everyone the good news: The campaign worked, and Daniel was able to see the unfinished version of the movie in a private screening at his own home.
“Today the wonderful Disney, Bad Robot and Lucasfilm teams made his final dream come true,” she wrote in a Facebook status update yesterday. “Daniel just finished watching an unfinished version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens!!! We would like to thank the awesomely talented JJ Abrams for calling us yesterday to tell us Daniel was getting his wish granted!”
Star Wars stars like Mark Hamill have taken to Twitter to express their happiness about the good news. “I. . . am elated for Daniel & his family! Thanks to the powers-that-be for making his dream come true,” he tweeted.
“If I got to see the movie, I might actually die from happiness,” Daniel told People earlier this week. “Growing up, I would watch the movies over and over and analyze every little detail. I hope I get to see what happens.”
We are so, so happy for Daniel for getting his dream come true. Thanks to JJ Abrams and all who participated in the social media campaign, a family who has gone through far too much pain had a day of pure happiness.
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We’re tweeting #ForceForDaniel to help grant a dying man’s ‘Star Wars’ wish
(Image via YouTube.)
