Watch: Mark Hamill Provides ‘Jedi Training’ To Sick Kids

ORLANDO, FL — The force was with youngsters at Florida Hospital for Children on Wednesday. “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill saw to it personally when he paid a surprise visit to the Orlando facility on behalf of the Starlight Children’s Foundation and Lucasfilm.

The two organizations, with Hamill in tow, chose the Florida hospital to unveil a new virtual reality program meant to “transform the hospital experience for pediatric patients across the country,” Florida Hospital explained on its Facebook page. The virtual reality program is meant to “entertain, educate and inspire the imaginations of hospitalized kids across the U.S.”

The Starlight Children’s Foundation is a Los Angeles, California-based nonprofit with a 35-year history. It’s dedicated helping children who suffer from serious illnesses or injuries and their families. The organization provides programs and activities meant to “entertain, distract and create better health incomes for sick children,” its website says.

Starlight VR is the latest venture in that mission. The virtual reality technology will be made available to children’s hospitals across the country with special “Star Wars VR content that turns kids into Star Wars characters as they travel to a galaxy far, far away,” the nonprofit says. Star Wars: Force for Change is the program’s founding sponsor with help also coming from Niagara Cares. The VR technology is powered by Google.

“We’re excited to announce the launch of Starlight VR which we believe will be a game-changer in the pediatric health care space,” Chris Helfrich, CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation, said in a statement. “We’re excited to have Lucasfilm and Disney, Google and Niagara Cares alongside us as we harness the power of virtual reality to bring more smiles to hospitalized kids when and where they need it most.”

The technology is set to roll out to Starlight’s network of children’s hospitals and other healthcare facilities in late 2017.

While the announcement of Starlight VR’s impending release was big, it looked like the kids had more fun meeting Hamill. R2-DC was even on hand to put smiles on kids’ faces.

To find out more about the Starlight Children’s Foundation, visit it online. To watch Hamill and R2 dazzle the kids and learn more about Starlight VR, check out the video below:

Photos courtesy of the Starlight Children’s Foundation