Star Wars fan Daniel Fleetwood, treated to The Force Awakens while terminally ill, dies

A terminally ill Star Wars fan has died just days after he was granted his final wish to watch the new movie The Force Awakens at his Texas home before its December release.

Ashley Fleetwood posted early Tuesday that her partner, Daniel Fleetwood, had passed awayin his sleep.

"Daniel put up an amazing fight to the very end,"shewrote in aFacebookpost."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.

"Rest in peace my love. This was the last selfie we ever took together. #forcefordaniel"

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Daniel Fleetwood, 32, of Spring, Texas, was diagnosed two years ago withspindle cell sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissue, Ashleywrote on aGoFundMepageshe created to help cover his medical bills.

Despite surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer spread to his lungs. On Sept. 1, doctors told him he had one to two months to live.In October, Fleetwood told KPRC-TV in Houston that he doesn't expect to live to see the movie in its theatrical release on Dec. 18.

Fleetwood's story and the hashtag quickly went viral and was retweetedby Star Wars actorsMark Hamill, Peter Mayhew and John Boyega. The social news website Reddit also helped promote the campaign.

"We would like to thank the awesomely talented J.J. Abramsfor calling us yesterday to tell us Daniel was getting his wish granted!" wrote Ashley Fleetwood.

Abrams has a history of granting this sort of request. In2013, Abrams allowed Daniel Craft, a New York-based film buff, tosee an early cut of Star Trek: Into Darkness nearly five months ahead of its release after Craft was diagnosed with cancer.Craft died just days later.

Hamill, who plays LukeSkywalkerin theStar Warssaga, took to Twitter to thank the makers of the upcoming sequel.

Fleetwood was treated to a screening of the unedited film at home last Thursday.

In addition to the screening, other Star Wars lovers also reached out to Fleetwood in his final days with special visits, gifts andonline tributes.