We hear a lot of awful news regarding Hollywood and celebrities, but sometimes comes a truly great story to remind us that there is goodness still out there.

Christian Bale, for example, visited the survivors of the Aurora movie theater shooting and then later flew a sick little boy and his family to Disneyland so he could hang out with his favorite superhero, Batman. Now comes word that director J.J. Abrams has done something remarkable for a sick man.

Daniel, a 41-year-old Star Trek fanatic, is dying from cancer. A cancer that attacked while he was fighting a different cancer, leaving him with only a few weeks to live. As a Star Trek fan he was obviously very excited to see Abrams’ sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.

Continue reading for more of Daniel’s story.

Sadly, given the movie isn’t coming out until May 17, 2013, Daniel’s only hope was to see the extended preview at the start of The Hobbit. His first attempt didn’t work as he had to go back to the hospital, and his second attempt ended with no extended preview being shown at the screening he was in.

This led his friend to take to Star Trek forum of Reddit to see what could be done if anything, with some help from his wife.

Here’s what they wrote:

I’ve seen some amazingly kind and generous stuff happen on here. I’m hoping there’s room for another amazing act of generosity and kindness for a friend of mine who is really sick. I couldn’t begin to put into words what he has gone through. Luckily his wife did it for me… “My amazing healthy film buff husband diagnosed with leukemia (CML) at 38 had to endure 3 rounds of chemo before they found a bone marrow donor match had a Bone Marrow Transplant, which was MORE chemo, full body radiation & lots of other horrific things….then endured/survived 3 major infections + a massive GI bleed that put him in the hospital 10+ times over 3 1/2 years not to mention 100’s of doctors visits…. he is my hero; I am his caregiver – I would do anything to help him…. he is now ravaged by a new TOTALLY UNRELATED cancer, (isn’t that a fucker?) an aggressive and EXTREMELY rare vascular tumor that is crowding out his healthy liver tissue… they grew under treatment; there is nothing left to do but make him comfortable, at 41, he is jaundice & his liver is enlarged, his body has had enough, he has weeks to live, He was hospitalized and had to exchange our HOBBITT tickets (where the 10 min Star Trek preview was supposed to be shown) we were able to put him in a car and get over to the HOBBITT but NO PREVIEW???? we, his friends and family, the love of my life – WOULD LOVE him to be able to see the Star Trek movie but even the 10 minutes of the trailer would be AMAZING.” If there is anything any one of you or anyone you know could do to make this happen that would be an amazing, kind and generous thing. Please help. Thanks.

It’s unclear how it happened or how the story got to the eyes of Abrams himself, but not only did the director invite them to see those ten minutes, but he invited them to see an entire unfinished cut of the movie.

Obviously they aren’t allowed to talk about what they saw in the movie, but here is the follow-up statement his wife wrote after:

“Hi everyone, it’s Daniel’s wife, we are of course sworn to secrecy, BUT we are officially allowed to say we saw it and we enjoyed it IMMENSELY as a film and as a gesture…. However; Daniel ‘hates’ being an ‘inspiring cancer story’ we his friends and loved ones would prefer for the update to have more of a heartfelt message of giving, especially during this season: This is a story of us giving something to him, the ‘internet’ community giving something to him and ultimately being a heartwarming gift to our friends, family and so many others. This story of us (and of course JJAbrams & Bad Robot) being able to give this surprise gift of a screening to a huge movie buff like Daniel, especially a film made by a film maker who obviously makes movies with such care, with a fan like Daniel in mind (and a person like me who knows slightly less about these things).
Also, it was truely amazing that a film-maker so secretive as JJ Abrams was kind enough to show this to us.

It is also so wonderful for his friends & his family to finally hear some good news from us, they know how important film is to Daniel & could not think of a better way to please him. So this gesture really has brought a lot of smiles all around.

it was a wonderful thing to see with Daniel and a wonderful thing to see Daniel enjoy – Making someone as ill as he is smile for any length of time really makes a difference. (At this point making me smile is good too)

This is also so poignant as JJ Abrams took so much care in the first Star Trek movie to at least TRY to get everything ‘right’ for the fans and we were so touched when he was concerned that we wouldn’t 100% enjoy the screening as it’s still being worked on……. Be assured we enjoyed it 110%!

We are so grateful thank you, thank you, thank you…..”

It really doesn’t get much better than stories such as this. It may seem strange to others, but most geeks in a similar situation to Daniel’s would very likely have a movie or two at the top of their wishlist. As terrifying as the situation itself is, the thought of not being able to see a certain movie you’ve been incredibly excited for for a very long time—as insignificant as it may seem in the grand scheme of things—is not an easy thing to accept.

Our thoughts here at Geeks of Doom are with Daniel and his family and friends in this most difficult of times, and much praise goes to J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures for making this happen.

[Source: Heat Vision]