Ryan Renyolds Wrote An Emotional Goodbye Letter To His 13-Year-Old Friend

    "I'm grateful I got to orbit Connor's world for a brief time."

    Ishmael N. Daro
    by Ishmael N. Daro

    BuzzFeed Staff, Canada

    Ryan Reynolds has written a heartfelt note about one of his fans, a 13-year-old boy in Edmonton, who died of cancer this week.

    Ryan Reynolds / Via Facebook: VancityReynolds

    Reynolds said he met Connor McGrath three years ago through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and that the two of them became great friends.

    McGrath "drop-kicked cancer... Not sure how... Maybe the cancer cheated... But the fight came to an end two nights ago," Reynolds wrote on Facebook.

    McGrath, whose family is from Newfoundland, was diagnosed with a form of childhood leukemia in 2013.

    McGrath spent much of the last three years in Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital "repeatedly punching cancer in the balls" and "making everyone laugh," Reynolds said.

    Ryan Reynolds / Via Facebook: VancityReynolds

    McGrath, who was a huge Deadpool fan, was the first person to see Reynolds' movie when the actor travelled to Edmonton to surprise him with a rough cut.

    "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," Reynolds said. "Connor didn't seem to mind. And I'd never felt luckier to get to be Wade Wilson."

    "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."

    Ryan Reynolds / Via Facebook: VancityReynolds

    "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."

    Reynolds said things didn't look too hopeful last time he visited McGrath. "After my visit, I didn't know if I was saying goodbye or see ya later. Sitting here now, I realize it was both."

    Ryan Reynolds / Via Facebook: VancityReynolds

    "See ya down the road, Bubba."