Terminally ill Star Wars fan granted last wish to see The Force Awakens early (update)

Update: Daniel's wife Sarah posted a message on Facebook at around 3 a.m. confirming that he had died in his sleep on Tuesday.

Original story: Star Wars director J.J. Abrams has given a dying fan his last wish: A chance to see The Force Awakens before he passes away.

Daniel Fleetwood, a 32-year-old diehard Star Wars fan, was told in July that his rare form of connective tissue cancer known as spindle cell sarcoma would leave him with just two months to live.

Talking to Houston's KPRC-TV earlier this week, Fleetwood said that based on "how progressive the disease had gotten in the past two months" he really didn't think he'd be able to make it to the Dec. 18 premiere date of the new movie. In an effort to make his dying wish come true, his wife Ashley took the campaign to Twitter, using the hashtag #forcefordaniel to bring attention to their situation.

#forcefordaniel help my man get his last wish, to see a screening of Star Wars before cancer takes him. @bad_robot pic.twitter.com/XCuYD0KlpY

— Ashley Fleetwood (@pandorashley) October 29, 2015

Within days, thousands had retweeted her original tweet, garnering the attention and support of the film's stars, including Mark Hamill and John Boyega.

Today, Ashley posted a message on her Facebook wall expressing her gratitude to Abrams for sending Daniel an unedited version of the film.

"Daniel's final dream was just granted," she wrote. "Today the wonderful Disney and Lucasfilms made his final dream come true, in the amazing typical Disney way, they really do make dreams come true."

She ended the message by thanking everyone online who helped raise awareness for Daniel's cause.

"Thank you beyond words!!! May the force be with you all #forcefordaniel."

It's not the first time Abrams has been able to grant a dying fan their last wish, either. In 2013, a terminally ill New York man named Daniel Craft wanted to see Star Trek Into Darkness before it was released.

Abrams was able to screen the film for Craft, who unfortunately died just days later.