YouTube/ABC 7
When a young Star Wars fan, Austin Eggleston, a 15-year-old student struggling with multiple congenital heart defects, was in need of a new heart, his doctor decided to make the news that a new heart was found all the more special, something that would be immortalized the following viral video.
What happened in the video itself?
While waiting at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Austin’s doctor, Philip Thrush, arranged for him to learn the good news that a new heart had been found from the mouths of Chewbacca himself! As seen in the above video, Austin was waiting in the hospital on St. Patrick’s Day, not thinking anything special was going to happen to him, even on the holiday.
Once he sees that a Wookie has come to meet him, he gives a double high five and even does a little dance. In fact, he gets so excited that the doctors have to warn him that he has to be careful not to rip off his life support equipment. He even ends the video giving his doctor a hug to thank him.
What happens now?
First things first, The Charlotte Observer confirmed that Austin has recovered from the heart transplant and is currently doing well.
Stories like this remind us that what goes around comes around, since Austin is not just someone who likes his movies, but also someone who knows the importance movies and their characters have cheering up children like himself; he previously asked Marvel on his own Twitter account if they could have a showing of Avengers: Infinity War at Lurie Children’s Hospital for other children to watch:
“@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! #Avengers”
Of course, now that he has his new heart, he issued the following Twitter update:
“Nevermind guys I finally got my heart after 4 months of waiting, but everyone else would still like to see it @Marvel”
Austin’s mom, Mary Anglin, told ABC 7, that what really made her little Star Wars fan happy was that he was getting a second chance at life:
“To see him knowing that he has a chance at life, that he has a chance to achieve so many things leaves you speechless.”
“He will make sure that he does remarkable things because of it.”