Scott meets the Star of sci-fi blockbuster

Scott Kelley, an avid fan of the hit sci-fi franchise, received a visit on Saturday from the series’ notorious villain, Darth Vader.

Thirteen-year-old Scott was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in December 2013. His dad Alan explained: “Last year Scott started to lose a lot of weight, was tired and had no appetite. In November he had an ultrasound done that showed an enlarged spleen. The hospital took further blood tests that showed some abnormal white blood cells; he then had a CT scan that showed a lump in his upper groin area.”

Following a biopsy, the young Downshire student was officially diagnosed on Christmas Eve, beginning his first round of chemotherapy just six days later. “Scott will be undergoing intense chemo until the end of August; he will then undergo maintenance chemo for three years,” Alan added. “Because of the chemo, he had to be taken out of school. He also can’t go to public events, so a few months ago he was gutted to miss this year’s Invasion Belfast - a Star Wars re-enactment event at W5 in the Odyssey.

“We got the idea of throwing a surprise birthday party for his 13th and asked Emerald Garrison, the group that organise Invasion, if they could send Darth Vader and some Imperial Stormtroopers.”

Describing his son’s delight at the weekend surprise, Alan said: “He was speechless and totally shocked to see Darth Vader.

“The Emerald Garrison guys were great - a real pleasure to deal with.”