Neil Hanvey, the terminally ill Star Wars fan who got to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, died of cancer on Monday, August 22.
Hanvey, who had been battling cancer for over three years, passed away at the age of 36 in hospice care, just two days after getting to see the film on Saturday ahead of its December 2016 release.
“On behalf of Neil Hanvey, his wife Andrea and all his family, we want to thank everyone who supported the #RogueOneWish campaign,” St Michael’s Hospice wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. “The director of Rogue One, Gareth Edwards did all he could to make Saturday a very special day for Neil. Neil, his family and everyone at St Michael’s Hospice would like to say thank you to Disney, Lucasfilm and especially Gareth Edwards.”
Hanvey’s final wish was fulfilled after his family started the #RogueOneWish campaign online this past April, when he was given eight months to live. Actors, including Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, contributed to the social media movement, tweeting about Hanvey’s wish, along with the hashtag “#RogueOneWish.”
On Tuesday, August 23, Hanvey’s wife, Andrea, thanked those who supported her husband’s final wish.
“On behalf of all our family we would like to thank everyone who has passed on their condolences following Neil’s death last night,” she said in a statement to St Michael’s. “We would also like to thank the tens of thousands of people who supported the #RogueOneWish campaign. All the messages of love during the past week have given us a great deal of comfort during a very difficult time. We would also like to thank everyone at St Michael’s Hospice, especially Amy Duncan, without who #RogueOneWish would not have happened. All donations at Neil’s funeral will go to the Hospice’s Family Support team and will be used to fund work with children and young people.”
Andrea has since set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for St Michael’s. Click here to donate.
Rogue One, the first of the Star Wars spinoffs, hits theaters December 16 and stars Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Ben Mendelsohn.
