Back in 2017, Mark Hamill fulfilled a teen’s dying wish. Long story short, meet John Sikorra. He was a teenager living with a neurodegenerative disease that shortened his life all too soon, after being diagnosed as a kid. John was a huge Star Wars lover and his favorite character was Luke Skywalker, someone that he’s always wanted to meet.
His father wasn’t so sure that Hamill would be able to fulfill such a wish, but much to the boy’s surprise, his dying wish was granted and the boy got to meet his most beloved Star Wars character from his hospital bed.
Why has no one talked much about this heartwarming story about Mark Hamill?!
Talk about being humble. Many people have been Star Wars fans for decades; however, many don’t even know this story about Mark Hamill. And let me just warn you: BRING THE TISH!!
So back in 2017, a father had gotten a hold of Mark Hamill’s agent in order to share his story about his son’s dying wish. He totally expected to hear absolutely nothing from either party and was really just grasping for straws at that point. Well, much to both the son and the father’s surprise, Hamill got a hold and heard about said story and dying wish and was stopping at absolutely nothing to fulfill said wish.
At just 7 years old, John Sikorra was diagnosed with Juvenile Batten Disease that, before taking a child’s life way too soon, it takes away their childhood. They lose vision, memory, motor skills, have frequent and sometimes violent seizures, and literally just about anything or any sort of skill that makes being a child fun and exciting. One thing that always remained the same was John’s love for Star Wars. No matter what, he always remembered certain characters and moments within each of his favorite movies. His father often said that John embodied what it meant to ‘BE Star Wars‘ with the whole ideas of fighting good and evil, as well as also fighting between courage and despair. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the Sikorra Family’s first experience with Batten disease as their younger son, Ben, was also diagnosed at some point in his life (yes, the disease could be genetic meaning that each sibling will also have a 25% of being diagnosed at some point in their lives, including adulthood).
The Sikorra family was initially told that although treatment for said disease could be possible in the future, but definitely not in their child’s lifetimes of living with this horrible disease. Speaking of treatments, I actually know a young boy with this disease who is getting treatments to slow the progression of this disease. It’s such a shame that something like this wasn’t around for John and Ben when the timing was just right for them.
Mark Hamill was nothing short of being completely and totally thrilled to fulfill this wish and even went on to say (via Twitter) that he actually prefers to go to visit fans and other people in the hospital as opposed to doing interview after interview as it means oh so much more to him!
That’s a wrap on the dying wish that Mark Hamill was able to fulfill for John Sikorra! How sweet!