CELEBRITIES
Ryan Reynolds promises to meet dying Wrexham fan
The Wrexham fan has one true wish — to watch Wrexham play at the Racegrounds and meet owner Ryan Reynolds.
Ryan Reynolds is making dreams come true on a much deeper level than soccer championship. A dying fan by the name of Jay Fear wrote that his dream is to see Wrexham play and have a chance to meet Hollywood actor and Wrexham AFC co-owner, Ryan Reynolds.
The Canadian-born actor, who is a Wrexham fan himself, has agreed to make the fan’s dream come true. Reynolds will meet the 45-year-old fan during Wrexham’s Saturday night game against Boreham Wood.
A dying fan’s only wish
Fear is battling terminal appendix cancer, but he told the BBC that there’s something that could lift his spirits.
“I’ve always loved Ryan Reynolds - ever since Van Wilder,” Fear said of Reynolds’ 2002 movie. “I remember watching that for the first time and thinking that guy was cool.”
“I started watching the [Welcome to] Wrexham programme on Disney Plus and when you watch that you can’t help but love Wrexham,” the fan continued. “It would be so nice to go to a Wrexham game and actually meet Ryan Reynolds at the same time.”
BBC reporter Peter Gillibrand then pursued Reynolds for a response to the terminal patient’s comments, posting the brief direct message exchange to his Twitter account.
“Genuinely - Ryan Reynolds is one hell of a man,” Gillibrand wrote in the caption. “I messaged the Hollywood star with Jay’s story and his dying wish to meet him at the huge Wrexham game on Saturday… the reply I got? ‘I’ll find him.’”
The screenshot shows the message of the reporter reaching out, and Reynolds’ response.
“I’ll find him,” Reynolds said. “Any idea where he’s sitting?”
Reynolds and Wrexham
Reynolds has been going to all kinds of lengths to increase Wrexham’s presence on the world stage, from investing millions in advertising, rigorously pursuing trademarks, purchasing property in the region, expanding the team’s stadium, offering camaraderie to his co-owner and the team’s fans, and overstaying their welcome in the locker room, but this may be the most heartfelt gesture yet.