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30th Apr 2016

PICS: Ryan Reynolds paid a moving tribute to young Deadpool fan who died of cancer

A real life super hero. Respect.

Alan Loughnane

Ryan Reynolds is one of the good guys.

Fresh from the fantastic movie that was Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds is not playing the anti-hero in real life, he’s being a full blown, bona fide hero.

This week he published a moving statement on his Facebook page about a young fan he’d gotten to know through the Make a Wish Foundation.

13-year-old Connor McGrath had leukaemia, and died earlier this week following a long battle with the illness.

The young fella was a Deadpool fan and had become friendly with Reynolds following the release of the hit movie.

deadpool cover

“Connor was 13. But this kid… He was smart. He was funny,” Reynolds wrote in the statement. “And not just funny ‘for a kid’ – or funny ‘for a person battling something awful’. He was unqualified funny. He had that… thing.”

“He went way too early and it’s impossible to reconcile. Connor was a great friend, a great son, and a light to the people lucky enough to know him. While repeatedly punching cancer in the balls, he made everyone laugh. Including the entire staff who cared for him at Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital.”

It’s clear from the statement that Reynolds saw Connor as a friend and someone who embodied the spirit of Deadpool as he went on to say.

“I called Connor, “Bubba”. And he called me “Bubba2″. We met because he loved Deadpool. In a certain sense he WAS Deadpool. Or, at least everything Deadpool aspires to be; balancing pain, fearlessness, love and a filthy (filthy!) sense of humor in one body. I wish he could’ve stuck around a lot longer.”

You can read the full post below…

Main image via Facebook/RyanReynolds