Back in July, Daniel Fleetwood was given two months to live. The 32-year-old Star Wars fan is dealing with a rare form of cancer called spindle cell sarcoma which is a type of connective tissue cancer. He didn’t expect to make it until the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens so his wife reached out…and Disney and Lucasfilm answered.
Daniel is under hospice care at his home and he’s loved Star Wars since he was eight years old. He and his wife Ashley have been assisted by friends, family, and strangers in attempting to get an early showing of The Force Awakens, opening Dec. 17, for him.
Well, the Internet banded together and won. On Thursday afternoon, Ashley posted this:
To all our wonderful supporters, friends, family and awesome strangers:Daniels final dream was just granted!!! Today the wonderful Disney and Lucasfilms made his final dream come true, in the amazing typical Disney way, they really do make dreams come true!
Daniel just finished watching an unedited version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens!!! We would like to thank the awesomely talented JJ Abrams for calling us yesterday to tell us Danjel was getting his wish granted! We also would like to thank Lynne, Ben and Anahuac for coming to our home and screening the movie for Daniel. Lastly I want to thank ALL the amazing people who helped make this happen, thank you beyond words!!! May the force be with you all 🙂 #forcefordaniel !!!!
Disney and Lucasfilm reached out to the Fleetwoods and Daniel was indeed given a special early screening of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Everyone was thrilled that the #forcefordaniel campaign worked…even Luke Skywalker.
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 (@HamillHimself) November 5, 2015
Ashley can’t say much about the movie, but did say that Daniel loved the film and thought it was fantastic. A confidentiality agreement did have to be signed by the Fleetwoods before viewing the new Star Wars movie, and they even watched it on their own TV.
It appears as if Disney brought their own equipment to their house to make sure that nothing could be copied or duplicated. Make sense.
Image via TMZ/Facebook
Even before the movie started, director J.J. Abrams placed a phone call to Daniel Fleetwood and made the day even better.
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