Social Media Campaign Lands Terminally Ill ‘Star Wars’ Fan His Dying Wish

Daniel Fleetwood, 31, a Star Wars super fan from Texas, was recently given months to live after a terminal cancer diagnosis. He wanted to see The Force Awakens and was granted his wish by Disney after his loved ones launched a touching online campaign, #ForceForDaniel, to get him to see the new Star Wars film early.

As a professional nerd, this is possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever heard in my entire goddamn life.

Daniel’s wife, Ashley Fleetwood, made a Facebook post on Nov. 5 revealing that the studio had made her husband’s dreams come true. They allowed Daniel to watch an early cut of The Force Awakens, which opens in theaters December 18th.  Her post read:

“Daniel just finished watching an unfinished version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens!!! We would like to thank the awesomely talented [director] JJ Abrams for calling us yesterday to tell us Daniel was getting his wish granted!”

That’s incredible. While I thought I would never forgive JJ Abrams for turning Star Trek into a soulless lens flare fest, and giving the entire country the worst case of plot line blueballs I have ever seen with Lost, I suddenly feel like I should.

The #ForceForDaniel viral online campaign even got the support of Star Wars actors Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), as well as newbie John Boyega. Hamill even tweeted a lovely message in response to Fleetwood getting his wish.

I just read this and am elated for Daniel & his family! Thanks to the powers-that-be for making his dream come true. https://t.co/ImiAdyBxf8

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) November 5, 2015