Taylor Swift is assisting a teenage fan who is struggling financially.
An anonymous contribution was made by the pop artist, who is 35 years old, to the parents of a little girl called Lilah, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after experiencing a seizure when she was only 18 months old. The donation was made on Friday, October 17.
Katelynn Smoot, Lilah’s mother, has been posting updates on her daughter’s condition on social media for many months, and since March, the family of the toddler has been using GoFundMe to raise money for her medical care.
A video that Katelynn uploaded on her TikTok account and titled “Stand with Lilah” showed how her two-year-old daughter referred to the singer of “Life of a Showgirl” as her “friend” as she was viewing a video of Swift on her iPad. Swift was introduced to the public for the first time just a week ago.
“This might be my fault,” Katelynn joked in the title of the video that was uploaded on October 8th. The film also included footage of the mother of two who was taking part in Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour when she was pregnant with Lilah.
The ecstatic mother proceeded by saying, “Lilah’s name was originally going to be Willow,” referring to Taylor Swift’s song that will be released in 2020 with the same name. “We were set on that name my whole pregnancy but ultimately ended on Lilah.”
The whole time I was pregnant, I listened to Taylor Swift, and then I gave birth to a little Swiftie. Katelynn stated, “Lilah is a huge fan of Taylor Swift’s music, and she even found solace in it while she was undergoing treatment for cancer.” I have high hopes that Lilah will be able to overcome this illness and that she will one day be able to attend a Taylor Swift performance in person. I am certain that she would adore it.
According to the GoFundMe page, Lilah’s kind of brain cancer is highly uncommon and severe. In fact, just 58 known occurrences of the disease were confirmed in the United States in the previous year.
Lilah’s treatment still includes three months of chemotherapy, three months of stem cell treatment, and some proton radiation. This will require her to stay at a hospital for four weeks at a time and to travel several hours away to a children’s hospital. Despite the fact that the toddler has already had a mass removed from her brain and has recovered well from the surgery, Lilah’s treatment still includes these treatments.
After a little more than a week, it seems that Katelynn’s touching video was able to make its way to Swift, and on Friday, October 17, the artist made a gift of one hundred thousand dollars via GoFundMe.
She added, “Sending the biggest hug to my friend, Lilah!” alongside her gift. “I am so grateful to you!” “Love, Taylor.”
After receiving the gift, Katelynn, Lilah, and the rest of the family were instantly overjoyed since it put them about sixty thousand dollars ahead of their goal of reaching one hundred thousand dollars.
In a video that was uploaded on Friday, Katelynn expressed that the contribution will enable them to “just focus on being here with our girl.”
She posed the question, “Is this real life?” as a caption for the touching video, which included her and Lilah dancing to Taylor Swift’s new song “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Please accept my sincere gratitude, @taylorswift. According to Katelynn, “I am in a state of shock.” “We place a great deal of importance on this. I am at a loss for words to adequately convey how very thankful we are. In the meanwhile, Tyler, who is Lilah’s father, and I are able to concentrate only on our daughter and on becoming a family unit.
Lilah also expressed her gratitude to the pop diva in the video, and she again referred to her as “my friend.”
“I am unable to stop weeping. This is such a wonderful present that you have provided to us,” Katelynn said. “Thank you very much.”
@standwithlilah So this might be my fault. Also Lilahs name was originally going to be Willow. We were set on that name my whole pregnancy but ultimately ended on Lilah. I listened to Taylor my whole pregnancy and then birthed a mini swiftie. Lilah loves Taylor’s music and during her cancer treatment she always found joy in it. I hope Lilah gets through this diagnosis and gets to one day go to a Taylor Swift concert in person. I know she would love it. #swiftie ♬ original sound – The Wiggles