I just came across this today on AOL. Zev and Frani Esquenazi are Star Wars fans. Not just regular Star Wars fans, dedicated ones. They build props, recreate costumes, and they’ve named their 4 month old daughter after Princess Leia (Although they spell it differently, Leah).

They’ve fallen on some hard times. Leah has an illness that doctors can’t diagnose. She’s being studied by a team of 40 doctors, had spinal surgeries (yes, multiple), and suffers from seizure-like movements throughout her body. So, with having to scale back at work, and mounting medical bills, the Esquenazi family asked help from the Star Wars community online through Facebook, and a blog they set up for her.

They’ve got astounding help from fan boys and nerds alike, but guess who stepped up once they heard about it? DARTH VADER AND CHEWBACCA! (David Prowse and Peter Mayhew) Yeah, that’s right. Darth Vader and Chewbacca came to aid of little Princess Leah. They’ve helped raise over $17,000 and are currently helping in donating prizes for a raffle to raise more money. That just goes to show you how powerful a trilogy of films can be (and if you think it’s episodes 1-3 you’re heavily mistaken). Turns out Obi wan wasn’t her only hope.