MELBOURNE, Fla. – Gaige Robbins, 19, has been in and out of hospitals battling an aggressive case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for almost a year.
But Tuesday in his hospital bed at Holmes Regional Medical Center, Robbins got the call of a lifetime from his favorite actor, Adam Sandler.
"He was so happy to talk to Adam Sandler," said Shane Robbins, Gaige Robbins' father. "He had tears in his eyes from the pain, but his face showed excitement."
According to Shane Robbins, after they hung up, Sandler called back wanting to say goodbye to Gaige Robbins.
The Robbins family said the call came after a lot of help from friends who shared Gaige Robbins' story with Sandler's manager.
The family now plans on meeting Sandler on the set of his new film in Georgia next week before heading to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, where it hopes to get him into a trial.
"We were told that they would keep him comfortable until the cancer took his life," Shane Robbins said. "We're going to fight harder, if not harder than Gaige is right now."
A GoFundMe account has been set up for Gaige Robbins.