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Just six-years-old, Jacob Hall was shot at the Townville Elementary School in Townville, South Carolina by a 14-year-old gunman who opened fire on a playground during recess on September 28th. Hall was put on life support after being shot, and tragically passed away on October 1st. To pay tribute to Hall's passing and well known love of everything superheroes, the community held a superhero-themed funeral. Get ready for a direct shot to the feels, everyone.
Via globalnews
As if we needed more reasons to love Ryan Reynolds, right? Ryan Reynolds took to his Facebook page to honor the late Connor McGrath, who Reynolds met at Edmonton hospital when McGrath was still battling cancer. The two enjoyed an advanced screening of Deadpool together. McGrath has since passed away, and Reynolds honors him in a truly moving way. RIP Connor.
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Via wensenrijders
The 54-year-old keeper, Mario, has worked at the zoo for almost 25 years and now has terminal cancer. He asked to be taken to the giraffe enclosure one last time to say goodbye to the animals.
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Via stevemershon
This heartfelt letter washed up in a bottle from the ocean to be found by Steve Mershon. The letter says this:
Dear Daniel, I'm really sorry that you pass away. And if you were alive me and you will be playing football, soccer and basketball with Mathew, Oscar and Brandon. I am in the fifth grade and you were my best friend and our favorite song was Austin Moon and I hope you have fun with Jesus.
From your best friend,
Jonathan Torres
Mershon posted pictures of this message, along with a note to Jonathan on Facebook:
Dear Jonothan Torres.. My name is Steve, and I found your note in a bottle on a beautiful Tuesday morning, April 19th.. First of all, let me tell you what a strong little man you are for writing your best friend that letter.. You show so much love in your heart way beyond your years.. Your parents, friends,teachers,myself, and all of my friends who know I found your letter are so proud of you.. Daniel is a lucky guy to have you as a best friend.. I'm so sorry he passed.. As your letter states, you guys must've played a lot of sports together with Mathew, Oscar and Brandon. I'm sure Daniel would want you to know that when you guys are playing sports, he and Jesus are watching and rooting for you.. Perhaps your next touchdown, goal, or basket you can dedicate to your best friend Daniel. I don't know where you threw your note in the ocean, or how long it was in the water, but it landed in the right hands, Jonothan.. You see, I find lots of things on the beach, and the best ones I keep.. I have shelves full of wood, shells, sunglasses and, yes, bottles.. Jonothan, your bottle, with your letter to your best friend, is the most beautiful thing I have ever found. It would trump anything in my collection.. But I can't.. Won't.. You threw that bottle out to show your love for your best friend.. It is meant to be shared.. I took pictures of it, and shared it with friends on my Facebook page.. It tugged at many heartstrings, Jonothan.. But it's going to be shared with more people.. Like I said, it fell into the right hands.. You see, I think Daniel put the bottle ashore where I found it, and his friend Jesus led me to it. I'll tell you why. I've had plans for a few weeks to go way out on the ocean on a big cruise ship. I'm going to take your letter and your bottle with me. I'm going to add my own little letter to it, Jonothan, and put the cork back in it, and when I find the deepest, prettiest, most blue water I can find, I'm going to throw it back in.. So someone else, along with their friends, can see the love in your heart. You're a good man, Jonothan. I'm hoping maybe, just maybe, the world can see the love in one fifth graders heart, and we can, one by one, all get along.. Peace, little man!
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Via VancityReynolds
Ryan Reynolds' dear friend, 13-year-old Connor McGrath just passed away after battling cancer for multiple years. The following was posted by Reynolds on his Facebook page, following McGrath's passing:
For three straight years, my friend, Connor McGrath drop-kicked cancer... Not sure how... Maybe the cancer cheated... But the fight came to an end two nights ago.
In my wildest dreams, I can't imagine how hard this is for his parents Kim and Gerald - along with his extended family in Newfoundland.
Connor was 13. But this kid... He was smart. He was funny. And not just funny 'for a kid' - or funny 'for a person battling something awful'. He was unqualified funny. He had that... thing.
That thing you see in great performers or comedy writers. A running commentary/observational skill people are just lucky to be born with.
He went way too early and it's impossible to reconcile. Connor was a great friend, a great son, and a light to the people lucky enough to know him. While repeatedly punching cancer in the balls, he made everyone laugh. Including the entire staff who cared for him at Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital.
It was the Make-A-Wish Foundation that brought us together. I can't thank them enough. Seriously. Thank you. Because of his wish, Connor was the first person to see Deadpool. I traveled up to Edmonton, Alberta to surprise him with a rough cut of the film. There were still huge sections with wires we hadn't yet painted out, jokes which weren't working (and still aren't) and green screens. Connor didn't seem to mind. And I'd never felt luckier to get to be Wade Wilson.
***Before you jump down my throat for showing a 13 year old an R-Rated film, please know this kid knew more swear words than a British chef.
I went back to Edmonton 6 weeks later and I wish I could say things were looking up. After my visit, I didn't know if I was saying goodbye or see ya later. Sitting here now, I realize it was both.
I'm grateful I got to orbit Connor's world for a brief time. Grateful for the pages and pages of hilarious texts between us. Grateful to his parents for allowing Connor to spend time with a foul-mouthed child in the body of a 39 year old.
I called Connor, "Bubba". And he called me "Bubba2". We met because he loved Deadpool. In a certain sense he WAS Deadpool. Or, at least everything Deadpool aspires to be; balancing pain, fearlessness, love and a filthy (filthy!) sense of humor in one body. I wish he could've stuck around a lot longer.
If you'd like to donate to The Make-A-Wish Foundation, I can pretty much guarantee, your money's going to a damn good place. These people do not suck. They are heroic. Full stop. http://makeawishna.ca/wishes/donate
My deepest condolences and thanks to Kim, Gerald and the entire clan McGrath -- who loved this little boy so very well. And thankfully, Connor knew it.
See ya down the road, Bubba.
- r
Garth Callaghan is 44 years old and has been diagnosed with cancer three times since November 2011. Prostate cancer once. Kidney cancer twice. Although he appears healthy today, statistics say he has an 8% chance of living past 5 years.
Since his daughter, Emma, has been in the second grade, he has written her a napkin note for each lunch he's packed. It may be a quote or a simple word of encouragement but it is a time when the two can connect.
Garth may die, but he will not let Emma eat lunch without a napkin note. His promise to her is to write one napkin note for every day of class Emma has until she graduates from high school.
Josh Kelly suffered from epilepsy, a brain disorder that forced him to drop out of high school nine days before graduation. For nearly a decade, Kelly attended Idaho State University working toward a degree in geology, with his service dog, a black pit bull named Cletus, by his side. The pair would dutifully walk two miles both ways to catch the bus to campus.
Unfortunately, Kelly passed away in February just two classes shy of his degree. Nonetheless, ISU granted him a posthumous degree on May 10. In the young man's place, Kelly's tearful father, Terrell, walked across the stage with Cletus by his side and accepted the diploma.
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