Actor Chadwick Boseman, who died last week, is being mourned and celebrated in his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina on Thursday. Meanwhile, the text messages he sent just before he died show the way in which he was a superhero to his youngest fans.
“They’ve been through hell battling disease,” he wrote to his executive producer, referencing the sick children they were working to get toys for. “If we were able to ease their suffering and bring joy for a moment, and hopefully moments (as) he goes through the bags, then we made a difference in his life.”
Back when Boseman was promoting his blockbuster film “Black Panther,” he discussed two boys he knew who were stricken with terminal cancer, who said they couldn’t wait for his new movie.
“When I think back now to a kid, you know, waiting for a toy or a video game. I did live a life waiting for those moments,” Boseman said.
It was an emotional moment that means more today than anyone realized — because just like those two little boys, Boseman was fighting cancer too.
Boseman lost his battle with colon cancer at the age of 43. Few knew of his illness — not his co-workers, and not even the young people he often visited in the hospital, like Zoe Dale.
“Everyone should take a lesson from him being able to see what he was going through and still have a smile on your face,” Dale said.