Downing lit up even more when his idol explained that he was in the middle of filming the sequel to his favorite film. “Yeah I am outside, you know what I am doing right now? I’m filming Deadpool 2. I’m about to walk into the set and shoot Deadpool 2,” Reynolds explained.
“As soon as Daniel realized, he asked if he could FaceTime him and then he was very, very hyper,” the child’s mother Stephanie told ae local news outlet. “All the camera crew waved hello and Daniel had his Mr. Pool T-shirt on. Daniel was telling Ryan how poorly he’d been and how his friends had helped him feel better.”
On July 13, Stephanie was told patients with Daniel’s diagnosis have nine months to live, at most.
“[Ryan] had to dash off to film, but that was good, really – Daniel gets tired very quickly. I’m so happy for Daniel,” the proud mom said. “It’s something he wouldn’t normally have been able to do and he was so excited. He told all his friends and his teachers. It’s nice to see him so excited because he has been a bit down lately.”
A family friend of the Downings set up a crowdfunding page with a goal of £6,000 or approximately $7,813. The account has raised over £17,000 or $22,500 thus far.
“Daniel is the most amazing 5-year-old ‘young man’ you could ever wish to meet. Full of life, mischievous, polite, intelligent, innocent, and above all, loving. He is adored and cherished by his mum Steph, his dad Robbie, his brother Jack (8 yrs old), and Steph’s partner, Ady. Daniel has such an adorable character that he really fits the phrase ‘once met, never forgotten,'” the page describes.
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.