Luke Skywalker was the hero of the galaxy in the original STAR WARS trilogy, and the character will return to the screen again in STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. The actor, Mark Hamill, proved that you don’t need a lightsaber to be a hero, and news has been hitting social media of a time when Hamill became a hero to a terminally ill kid.
In an effort to share a story of optimism and love, writer Ed Soloman (MEN IN BLACK, BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming MOSIAC series) took to Twitter to share the story about how he reached out to Hamill to ask a favor for his friend, Joe Sikorra, who had a son, John, who was afflicted with juvenile Batten's Disease (JNCL). The rare disease takes away the use of vision, and eventually cognitive motor function, and the young STAR WARS superfan wanted nothing more than to meet THE REAL Luke Skywalker. In the series of tweets, Soloman recounted how eight years ago Hamill heeded the call, and showed up for the young John, making his dream come true.
THR caught up with both Sikorra and Soloman, with the former saying how his son loved STAR WARS and watched the original trilogy every day. This prompted him to ask his friend, Soloman, to see if he knew Hamill, and could perhaps arrange a meeting. Soloman recalls accepting the request, even though he had never met Hamill in his life:
I had never met Mark, but I called his agent and asked if this could happen. Mark's agent said, “Please don't say anything to the boy because I don't want to get his hopes up.” And then, literally less than two minutes later, Mark calls and said, “I would love to. How about tomorrow?” I started bawling.
Hamill did what he promised, and showed up to spend time with John, who due to his deteriorating sense of mind, could not distinguish between Hamill and Luke. But Hamill handled it like a pro, and would answer the questions John had, even if it was the same one over and over:
Mark spoke to John simply and directly and with utter dignity. John would ask the same question three times in a row, and Mark would answer the same way every single time.
But the story gets sweeter from there as Soloman recounted how after Hamill gave John a bunch of STAR WARS stuff, the boy asked one last question: “Can I meet Princess Leia?”
So, Mark says are there any final questions, and John asks, “Can I meet Princess Leia” And Joe and I looked at each other and winced, and I remember Joe waving his arms to Mark, like you don't have to do this. And Mark said, “I'll ask.” And Mark called me later that day and said, “Princess Leia would be happy to meet John.” I told her about the family. She got very emotional about the unfairness of things in life. And she said, “I only have two questions: Where and when?” Unfortunately, John's situation started to deteriorate pretty quick after that, so we couldn't meet up with Carrie. But Carrie had agreed to do it and that came through Mark.
Sikorra went on to say his son meeting Hamill was “a treasure,” and that it made him feel “important and loved.” John died Sept. 24, 2015, at age 23.
Hamill saw the Twitter thread, and posted a response of his own, which you can see below with Soloman's original thread:
What with all the news stories and exposés on people in the industry lately, making life seem like a horrid, rancid, dumpster fire, it's stories like this that reaffirm the goodness that still exists in human beings. We have all known this for some time, but Mark Hamill is a class act who has always used his time and fame to exhibit extraordinary acts of generosity and kindness. This is the kind of feel-good story that makes the day worth stepping into and proves that meeting your heroes can be just as amazing as you hoped it would.
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI hits theaters December 15.