When Chewbacca, the giant “Star Wars” Wookie, stepped into the hospital room of 15-year-old Austin Eggleston on March 17, it was one of the happiest moments of the teen’s life.
Plenty of science-fiction movie fans would be thrilled to get a visit from such a famous star, but in this case, Chewbacca brought a message, which meant more to the hospitalized teen than hearing that the evil Empire had been defeated.
Chewbacca dropped by to tell Austin that a donor heart had been located and the ailing teen was going to have a chance at a long and healthy life.
Austin was born with a congenital heart defect.
Austin, a hard-core “Star Wars” fan from Pontiac, Illinois, had spent five months in Chicago’s Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, waiting for a donor heart.
When the Wookie walked in, growling and trilling, Austin started jumping up and down.
“We got a heart? Do we seriously have a heart?” he asked.
Austin’s mother, Mary Anglin, videoed the ecstatic moment and posted it on Facebook, where more than 70,000 people have viewed it.
“To see him knowing that he has a chance at life, that he has a chance to achieve so many things leaves you speechless,” Anglin told ABC.
Austin and Anglin both appreciate that he got a second chance at life because someone else lost a life.
A family whose child just died made the choice to donate the important organ.
“He will make sure that he does remarkable things because of it,” Anglin vowed.
Austin was already active helping others, ABC reported.
His fellow patients had dubbed the teen ‘The Mayor of the 15th Floor” because he spent so much time making sure everyone had what he or she needed.
“He wants to help,” Anglin told ABC. “He wants to make people as happy as possible.”
While he was trapped in the hospital, Austin started a campaign to arrange a showing of the latest Marvel Avengers movie for the children trapped in the hospital.
Austin started a social media page, where he asked Marvel “As someone waiting for a heart transplant how many retweets do I need to get a showing of Avengers Infinity war shown to the children at @LurieChildrens Chicago who may not be able to see it in theaters.
“Please @Marvel as someone who loves you guys I want this!”
After he learned that he was going to get a heart and would be going home, he then posted, “Nevermind guys I finally got my heart after 4 months of waiting, but everyone else would still like to see it.”
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