Terminally ill Star Wars fan’s dying wish granted, has private screening of new film

A cancer-stricken Star Wars fan has been granted his dying wish — a private screening of the yet-to-be-released Star Wars film.

Texas native Daniel Fleetwood, 32, has been a huge Star Wars fan since we was a kid. For the last two years he has been battling a rare and aggressive cancer, spindle cell sarcoma. Fleetwood was recently told he had one to two months to live; his cancer had spread to his lungs and was inoperable.

A gofundme page for Fleetwood, created by his wife Ashley, describes their struggle with the illness, including a trial study that was not successful.

“He is now on hospice at home and we are cherishing every moment we have,” Ashley wrote.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He is now on hospice at home and we are cherishing every moment we have," Ashley wrote.

Fleetwood has been quoted as saying he didn’t believe he would live long enough to see The Force Awakens, due for release Dec. 18.

A social media effort, #forceforDaniel, was launched in an effort to grant Fleetwood’s dying wish to see the movie. His story made headlines, and even caught the attention of Mark Hamill who retweeted messages of support.

READ MORE: Dad turns son’s wheelchair into an out-of-this-world Star Wars-inspired Halloween costume

On Thursday Ashley posted a message on Facebook with the good news.

“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!”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "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!"

She said the new film’s director JJ Abrams called the couple Wednesday to tell them Daniel’s wish would be granted. He has since had a home screening of an “unedited” version of the film.

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 !!!!”

Hamill, whose reprisal of Luke Skywalker in the new film has been shrouded in mystery, tweeted he was “elated for Daniel and his family.”

This isn’t the first time Abrams has given a fan on their deathbed a sneak peek of a film; in 2013 a New York man, Daniel Craft, saw a rough version of Star Trek Into Darkness months before it was in theatres. Craft died just days after seeing the film.