Ryan Reynolds writes powerful tribute to young 'Deadpool' fan who died of cancer
Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds posted a moving note to Facebook Thursday in honor of a young fan who lost his battle with cancer.
13-year-old Connor McGrath, who had leukemia, died earlier this week. McGrath was a Deadpool fan and had become close friends with Reynolds after meeting him through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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"Connor was 13. But this kid... He was smart. He was funny," Reynolds wrote. "And not just funny 'for a kid' — or funny 'for a person battling something awful'. He was unqualified funny. He had that ... thing."
Reynolds reminisced about visiting Connor at his home in Edmonton, Alberta, where the teen was the first person to see Deadpool before its wide release.
"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," wrote Reynolds. "Connor didn't seem to mind. And I'd never felt luckier to get to be Wade Wilson."
It's clear Reynolds thought of Connor not just as a friend or a fan, but as a role model.
"We met because he loved Deadpool," Reynolds wrote. "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 have stuck around a little longer," he added.
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Chloe was the shopping editor at Mashable. She was also previously a culture reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @chloebryan.
