The viral social media mission to give a terminally ill Star Wars fan a chance to see The Force Awakens early has been accomplished. Daniel Fleetwood of Spring, Texas has seen the new film more than a month before anyone else.
Fleetwood’s story went viral after he told Click2Houston that he didn’t think he would live long enough to see the film on Dec. 18. He suffers from spindle cell sarcoma, a rare connective tissue cancer, and has already lived longer than expected.
The report sparked the social media campaign #ForceForDaniel, which even won support from actors Mark Hamill and John Boyega. Other members of the Star Wars community also voiced their support and fans from around the world also hoped that Fleetwood could see the film early.
Well, our hopes have succeeded because Disney, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams have made it happen. Fleetwood’s wife Ashley wrote on Facebook yesterday that Fleetwood got a chance to see an unedited version of the film. She said that Abrams personally called them.
“We would like to thank the awesomely talented JJ Abrams for calling us yesterday to tell us Daniel was getting his wish granted!” Ashley Fleetwood wrote. “Lastly I want to thank ALL the amazing people who helped make this happen!!! May the force be with you all.”
Wanted to edit something: To all our wonderful supporters, friends, family and awesome strangers: Daniels final dream...
Posted by Ashley Fleetwood on Thursday, November 5, 2015
If this story proves anything, it’s that Star Wars fans really do know how to use the Force for good.