An 11-year-old boy battling a terminal heart condition received a heartwarming video message from Johnny Depp, who was dressed up as one of the boy’s favorite movie characters.
Kori is currently in palliative care and has already had two heart transplants in his young life, according to the Daily Mail. Despite his health challenges, the 11-year-old boy is a YouTuber and wishes someday to reach 100,000 subscribers, which would earn him a Silver Play Button award.
On Sunday, Kori shared a video, through his channel “Kraken The Box,” of Depp, 59, going above and beyond to help the boy achieve his wish.
“Captain Kori, I understand you’re quite the YouYube channel man. So what I’m saying is I would be glad to follow your YouTube channel and will tell all my friends to follow your YouTube channel,” said Depp, who was portraying Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.
“I wish you the best of luck, I’m your number one fan Captain Kori, all my respect and love,” Depp added.
On December 8, before sharing the video, Kori only had 1,000 subscribers on his channel. Since posting the video, “Kraken the Box” has over 180,000 subscribers, exceeding what Kori was hoping for.
A couple of days later, an elated Kori shared another video of him and the well-known actor having a conversation through a video call. Depp continued to portray Sparrow while pretending as if he were on a pirate ship.
Depp complimented Kori’s pirate hat and was about to ‘knight’ the boy with his sword, but the video then cut to a graphic, which teased the audience that Kori would need to reach 200,000 subscribers before he would release the rest of the call.
Youtube users commented on both videos, expressing their happiness for Kori while praising Depp for his kindness.
“I love him so much for his giving and caring nature. I’ve never heard of him refusing a request from a sick child,” one user commented.
“How generous was that! Thank you to all those who helped to make this video. Go Kori!” said another user.
“Johnny has a kind heart for his kids and all kids. He is always stepping up to make them smile,” another user commented. “Meeting Johnny to be knighted by a pirate now that’s something.”
This is not the first time Depp has portrayed Captain Jack Sparrow outside the movie screen, as he has frequently visited children’s hospitals to brighten the days of those battling serious illnesses.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.