Star Wars ‘Geeks’ Call To Help Friend Dying From Cancer

A group of self-confessed Star Wars 'geeks’ have been overwhelmed with support after launching an online campaign to help raise money for their friend who is dying from cancer.

34-year-old father-of-two Paul Giesbrecht from near Winnipeg in Canada has stage four gallbladder cancer, and a group of friends from a drop-in centre he volunteered at have appealed to 'all geeks’ for their help in a video posted on YouTube.

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Now a fund to help his family once he is gone is starting to gain momentum, and has been picked up by those involved with the new movies too.

Rian Johnson, who is helming 'Star Wars: Episode VIII’, has helped out by retweeting a link to the Reddit page which is among the places where the appeal is being hosted, as has Kyle Newman, director of acclaimed 'Star Wars’ fan documentary 'Fanboys’.

The appeal has now leapt up to over $4000 in just a couple of days, with a goal of $20,000 in place, and a call for Star Wars fans to get in touch with Lucasfilm direct to ask for help.

The gents who appear in the video praise Giesbrecht for introducing them to Star Wars tabletop gaming.

“We’re geeks, and we have Paul to thank for that,” they say in the clip.

“We got to thinking, there’s a lot of us out there. A lot of geeks like us who share the same story. Somebody invested the time in us to show us what geek culture was about.

“We all have a Paul that started us out on the journey to being geeks.

“We’d love to see this fundraiser exceed all expectations and let our friend have peace about his family’s future, and we know incredible things have happened when geeks have gotten behind a cause.”

In a post on the Reddit page, poster Transcendatron said: “Yesterday I spoke with Paul and his wife, who were totally floored by the response.

“Both of them said that while the financial aid was fantastic, what really stood out for them were the small donations from so many people - which they said was very inspiring and humbling.

“They paid less attention to the amount of the donations and more to the comments (especially all the Star Wars references!).

“I know I felt emotional reading through them, and so privileged to watch you all rally around my friend.”

You can help to raise money here.

May the force be with them…

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Image credit: Imgur