Via Mashable.com:

Peter Mayhew, the London-born actor who played Chewbacca in Star Wars, has sent a heart-warming letter to a young fan after his seven-year-old friend passed away.

The letter is addressed to a boy called Liam, and was shared on Reddit on Tuesday by the father of Sam, the boy who passed away.

At the time of writing, the letter has been viewed around 130,000 times on Imgur.

Sam’s older sister posted the following comment on the reddit thread explaining more about the story.

“About three weeks ago, my brother passed away in a tragic accident. I’m going to spare the details, since it’s all still so fresh and heavy in our hearts.

Sam was seven, and while he may have only been here for a short time in retrospect, he lived more than most adults I know. And boy, did he love Star Wars. The force was definitely strong with this one. One of his very good friends, Liam, promised to go see the new Star Wars movie with Sam on Christmas… And word of Sam’s passing got back to Peter Mayhew. This was the response.

It’s amazing to see the support we have been given through this time. I know Sam would have loved to know that Chewy knows who he is.”

The Radio Times spoke to Mayhew who confirmed that he sent the letter.

“Liam’s grandmother is a friend of my wife’s sister,” he told them. “My wife’s sister reached out to me with his story. I hope my words were of some comfort to him.”

Sam’s father has since shared a link to the fund his family set up after Sam was involved in an accident. At the time of writing, 178 people have contributed to it, raising around $15,000.