"Mark answered all John's questions about Princess Leia and spaceships, and he was just very, very kind. "At that point, John couldn't distinguish between the actor and the character," explained Sikorra. Hamill met John with Sikorra and Solomon at a park in Malibu, where he spent hours answering John's questions, in character as Skywalker. "Ninety seconds later, I got a call from who immediately said yes and gave me his home address." Meeting Luke Skywalker "The agent begrudgingly said he'd call Mark, but also said not to get my hopes up," Solomon wrote when he told the story on Twitter in 2017. Never miss a parenting story with the TODAY Parents newsletter. Solomon didn't have any direct connection to the actor, but he reached out to his agent. Sikorra asked his college friend, screenwriter Ed Solomon ("Men in Black," "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure") - the only person he knew in Hollywood - if he could help him reach Hamill. But because he had spent of his childhood watching "Star Wars" and playing with his toy lightsabers and action figures, his connection to the movie had stayed with him. He had already lost his sight by then and most of his short-term memory. One of those moments came after John, then a young teenager, asked his dad if he could meet Luke Skywalker. "Because we opened ourselves up, rather than giving in to despair and depression - though we definitely went through depressed times - we have had some amazing moments all throughout our journey." John Sikorra passed away from complications of Batten disease at the age of 24, but during his life he fought to attend high school, where he was able to letter in baseball with the help of the high school coaches despite his blindness, and to win the title of Homecoming King. "We made a choice to maximize life and do what we could to take pleasure in small things," he said. "How do you imagine life going forward when this is presented with no hope for a cure or treatment?" "It was devastating and isolating," Sikorra told TODAY Parents. Joe Sikorraĭoctors told the Sikorras that a treatment for Batten might be possible in the future, but not in their children's lifetimes. It was the first film released in the Star Wars film series and the fourth chronological chapter of the 'Skywalker Saga'. The disease affects the nervous system and causes the loss of vision and motor and cognitive control as well as seizures. Star Wars (retroactively retitled Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope) is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Joe Sikorra's sons, John and Ben, were diagnosed with the fatal and progressive Batten disease when they were children. The Sikorras' younger son, Ben, was diagnosed with Batten disease as well. Children with Batten lose their vision and suffer from seizures and a loss of motor and cognitive control before their early deaths. Joe Sikorra's son John was diagnosed with juvenile Batten disease, a progressive and fatal genetic disease that affects the nervous system, when he was just 7 years old. "I think he identified with the whole idea of the fight between good and evil, courage and despair."įor a family that understands all too well the struggle between light and dark, Hamill's act of kindness would mean the world. "John had always loved 'Star Wars,'" said Sikorra, a Catholic podcast host, family therapist and father of two.
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