Los Angeles, Dec 16 (IANS): Hollywood star Johnny Depp resumed the role of Captain Jack Sparrow as he sent a sweet message of support to a terminally ill fan.

The 59-year-old put on the costume to send a loving message of support to a terminally ill 11-year-old boy, as he battles a heart condition, reports mirror.co.uk.

'Pirates of the Caribbean' fan Kori Parkin-Stovell has undergone two unsuccessful heart transplants and ultimately decided against a third. He is now in palliative care and his family don't know how long he has to live.

Depp surprised the YouTuber with a video message and phone call in character, telling him: "I wish you the best of luck, I'm your number one fan Captain Kori, all my respect and love."

Kori hopes to get as many subscribers to his YouTube channel as possible and Johnny was keen to help.

In a video shared on Kori's YouTube, he said: "Captain Kori, I understand you're quite the YouTube channel man, or shall be. So what I'm saying is I shall be glad to follow your YouTube channel and I shall tell all my friends to follow your YouTube channel."

He added: "I shall be there watching every moment and watching moments with you."

During the video phone call, Depp pretended to be on a pirate ship as he talked to the youngster.

Kori got dressed up for the occasion, wearing his very own pirate hat, which got the approval of Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny also 'knighted' Kori with Captain Jack's sword.

Kori only shared half of the phone call on his YouTube channel and said he needs to reach 200,000 subscribers to release the rest of the call. He now has an incredible 179,000 subscribers.

Kori was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, and had his first heart transplant in March 2018, but the organ was rejected.

He underwent a second transplant in January last year but, after a painful procedure, his body rejected the heart.