I am your No. 1 fan, Captain Kori, Depp said in a previous appearance as Captain Jack Sparrow in a Make-A-Wish film.
Johnny Depp bids a fond farewell to a devoted admirer.
On Tuesday, the 60-year-old actor gave a protracted eulogy for Kori Stovell. After two heart transplants failed, Kori, an 11-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean enthusiast who was born with a cardiac defect, was undergoing hospice care.
Keep sailing, my comrade captain! You showed us respect by laying down your life for us. You humbled and amazed us with your strength and drive to smile in the face of everything,” Depp said on Instagram with a black and white video of Kori.
The child had previously been referred to by Depp as “Captain Kori” during one of their Make-A-Wish Foundation-sponsored video talks from December. Additionally, he created a unique video only for the 11-year-old and uploaded it to his YouTube account, “Kraken The Box.”
“You’ve shown every one of us how to stay ahead of the curve with elegance, humor, an incomprehensible understanding, and amazing decency,” the actor said in his statement this week.
You are a warrior, Mate… On the highest of oceans, we’ll run into each other once more. I will always have the utmost regard and love for you and your family, X JD,” Depp said.
A source close to the actor said that Make-A-Wish contacted him in December with “a timely ask” as Kori was receiving hospice care. Depp appeared in the video as Captain Jack Sparrow, the movie’s main character, and wished the young person well.
I hope you have success. He said, “I am Captain Kori’s biggest fan,” in the video.
Kori was reportedly a “massive” Jack Sparrow enthusiast who often watched the first two Pirates of the Caribbean films “during his multiple heart surgeries and subsequent recovery periods,” a source said at the time.
The tiny Pirates fan was born with a disease known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome that caused the left side of his heart to be underdeveloped. According to the BBC, he underwent heart transplants in 2018 and 2020, but both organs were rejected by his body.
Pixi’s mother said her family as “broken beyond belief at a loss.”
She shared an emotional video as soon as Kori passed away on Sunday, adding that he “went fairly peacefully” and that he had his “captain’s hat beside his bed and he has a pirate flag over him” as he did so.
I would want to thank everyone who has supported Kori and followed his journey, the speaker said.We ask that people keep him in mind now that he has started on his biggest trip yet. He was grateful for so many things in life and humbled by them all.
