J.J. Abrams Makes Dying Man's Wish Come True
Paramount Pictures, Industrial Light & Magic/AP Photo
Call it a Christmas miracle: After word spread on social website Reddit that a 41-year-old "Trek" fan with terminal cancer, named Dan, wanted to see the upcoming "Star Trek Into Darkness" before he died, his wife reportedly received a call from director J.J. Abrams.
"JJ Abrams just called Dan's wife and left a message. He's going to try to arrange a screening for Dan, either of the film or at least of the 9 minute promo reel," Dan's friend, Grady Hendrix, a writer and founder of the New York Asian Film Festival, posted on Reddit Thursday.
The new "Trek" film is not scheduled for release until May 2013.
"I'll never say anything bad about JJ Abrams again. Seriously. He is now beyond reproach as far as I'm concerned," Hendrix wrote.
A rep for Abrams did not respond to ABCNews.com's request for comment.
Dan, whose last name is unknown, has been battling cancer for several years and only has weeks to live, according to the original post Christmas Day from his wife and another friend:
"My amazing healthy film buff husband diagnosed with leukemia (CML) at 38 had to endure 3 rounds of chemo before they found a bone marrow donor match had a Bone Marrow Transplant, which was MORE chemo, full body radiation & lots of other horrific things….then endured/survived 3 major infections + a massive GI bleed that put him in the hospital 10+ times over 3 1/2 years not to mention 100's of doctors visits…. he is my hero; I am his caregiver - I would do anything to help him…. he is now ravaged by a new TOTALLY UNRELATED cancer, (isn't that a f***er?) an aggressive and EXTREMELY rare vascular tumor that is crowding out his healthy liver tissue… they grew under treatment; there is nothing left to do but make him comfortable, at 41, he is jaundice & his liver is enlarged, his body has had enough, he has weeks to live…"
Dan's wife went on to say that her husband had planned to see the extended "Star Trek" preview during a screening of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" but was hospitalized instead.
Thursday, the friend who posted the original plea for help, updated Reddit users with the good news: "Holy cow everybody!!! I just heard from his wife that they are going to do it!! I don't know who it what the path was to get there but thank you so much to everyone that tried to help!!!"