Star Wars: The Force Awakens
JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens will premiere on 17 December in UK and on 18 December in the US Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Terminally ill Star Wars super fan whose final wish to watch The Force Awakens was granted by Disney/Lucasfilms has died. Daniel Fleetwood, 32, from Texas, was suffering from a rare connective tissue cancer called spindle cell sarcoma and succumbed to his illness on 10 November, his wife Ashley Fleetwood confirmed on her Facebook post.

"Daniel put up an amazing fight to the very end. He is now one with God and with the force. He passed in his sleep and in peace. He will always be my idol and my hero. Please hug uncle Marc for me and give Lucy lots of kisses. Rest in peace my love. This was the last selfie we ever took together.‪#‎forcefordaniel,‬" she wrote.

A huge fan of the Star Wars movie franchise, Fleetwood had expressed his dying wish to watch The Force Awakens before its release as he feared that he may not survive till December to watch his favourite movie. His wish went viral on social media and the hashtag #forcefordaniel started trending.

The campaign attracted Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and John Boyaga (Finn) who tweeted their support for the fan. Later, Disney and Lucasfilm acknowledged his wish and allowed him to watch the unedited version of the highly anticipated space action thriller. Ashley confirmed the news that her husband's final wish was granted by the movie production house and JJ Abrams himself called Daniel to tell him that his wish was granted.

"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 smile emoticon ‪#‎forcefordaniel‬ !!!!"

JJ Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens will premiere on 17 December in the UK and on 18 December in the US.