Dying Star Wars Fan in Hospice Gets to Watch The Rise of Skywalker Nearly A Month Early
The Force is strong for this hospice patient whose dying wish is to be able to watch the final installment of the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
After Disney’s Chairman and CEO Bob Iger heard that a patient at Rowans Hospice in England would not make it until Dec. 20 — when Skywalker is set to hit theaters — Disney agreed to make a special exception and let the patient and his young son preview the film early.
On Tuesday, Rowans Hospice tweeted about the patient’s love for Star Wars, hoping that if enough people saw the message it could potentially get to Disney executives.
“Can you help? We have a patient who’s a HUGE #StarWars fan. Sadly, time is not on his side for the 20th Dec. His wish is to see the final Star Wars film #RiseOfSkywalker with his young son. If you know ANYBODY who might be able to make it happen, please share with them,” the facility wrote.
Contact @Disney. They are the only ones who can make this happen. Good luck!
— Mark HoHoHoHamill (@HamillHimself) November 26, 2019
Not only did Iger later see the post, but Mark Hamill — who plays the titular character Luke Skywalker — came across the tweet and wished the patient “good luck.”
“Contact @Disney. They are the only ones who can make this happen,” wrote the actor.
On this Thanksgiving, we at @Disney are grateful to be able to share #TheRiseOfSkywalker with a patient and his family @RowansHospice. May the force be with you and with us all!
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) November 28, 2019
Two days later, Iger responded to Rowans’ request, sharing that Disney is “grateful to be able to share #TheRiseOfSkywalker with a patient and his family @RowansHospice.”
“May the force be with you and with us all!” he added.
Lisa Davies, the health care support worker at Rowans Hospice who originally brought up the idea of previewing the movie, shared in a press release that she was “utterly speechless” at Disney’s response.
“We totally appreciate that they have had to move mountains to make this happen!” she said.
She added, “The response from everyone, including the Star Wars community, has been absolutely phenomenal over the last few days. So a massive thank you to every single person that has shared our post and given their time to help make this possible.”
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters Dec. 20.
