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17th May 2016

Mark Hamill meets teen cancer survivor, and makes him and us cry

A new hope.

Carl Kinsella

Jamie’s Journie is a teenager from Co Derry who has fought and beaten cancer on two occasions now which, realistically, is more courage and strength than Anakin Skywalker showed before he was inducted into the Jedi Order.

Jamie, an enormous Star Wars fan, posted an appeal to the Star Wars cast on his Facebook page – and his request was granted by Luke Skywalker himself, actor Mark Hamill, who came to have breakfast with his young fan.

Jamie shared plenty of photos from the day to his Facebook page, and said of Hamill:

“People say that you should never meet your idols, because you build them up in your head so much that when you do meet them, they are a let down, and to that, I say, ‘You’re wrong’.”

jamie and mark

“He shook hands with Caolan, Ciaran, Sinead and my dad before coming to me, and when I stood up to shake his hand he told me, ‘Sit down, you don’t need to stand up for me’.

“He chatted to everyone for a while, before turning to me, and he told me something that I really needed to hear after the last few weeks and months that I’ve had.

“I promised myself that I wouldn’t cry, but I just couldn’t help it, and then Mark hugged me and as he was sitting down, I saw that he was crying too.”

Jamie also managed to get himself a souvenir out of the day that is sure to be the envy of Star Wars fans around the world: a legit lightsaber, signed by Hamill.

lightsaber

You can read Jamie’s thoughts on his amazing day in his own words below:

Hamill is currently in Ireland filming scenes for the follow-up to Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.