Taylor Swift donates $100K to young girl’s cancer fund

NORTH CAROLINA (WJW) — The mother of a young girl with cancer is sharing about the moment she knew a $100,000 donation to her daughter’s GoFundMe came from the showgirl herself, Taylor Swift. 

Katelynn Smoot was in labor with her son, William, on February 24 when she got the news that her 18-month-old daughter, Lilah, had suffered a seizure at home and been rushed to the emergency room.

According to an interview with People magazine, a scan revealed a mass on Lilah’s brain, and the fear hit instantly for her parents.

That same day, Lilah was transferred to a children’s hospital for an MRI, which confirmed the mass was a Stage 4 tumor, People reports. 

According to People, Smoot and her husband, Tyler, tried to stay hopeful and thought surgery could fix the problem completely. 

Doctors successfully removed the entire tumor on March 3 when Lilah underwent brain surgery. Later that week, Lilah was officially diagnosed with TRT — atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor — a very rare and aggressive tumor.

According to Smoot, if Lilah’s type of cancer is not treated, there is a 100% chance she will die, People reported. She says there is only one protocol for this type of cancer, which includes two rounds of induction chemotherapy, three rounds of high-dose chemo with stem cell rescue and six weeks of proton radiation.

Both of Lilah’s parents had to step away from work to care for Lilah and their newborn full-time, People reported.

Lilah’s treatment was started at Renner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem. She was then transferred to Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham for most of her chemotherapy. The family then had to move to Philadelphia to continue Lilah’s treatment with radiation at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Smoots told People that the early stages of their daughter’s treatment were the toughest, but Lilah’s spirit has stayed strong throughout it all. 

As a way to process her emotions and connect with others who are going through the same thing, Smoot began documenting their journey on TikTok.

“Everyone is just one diagnosis away from their life changing forever,” she told People.

Smoot said a bright spot in Lilah’s journey was when Taylor Swift released her new album in October, ‘The Life of a Showgirl.’

She was playing the new record one day, and Lilah “perked up,” People reported. That is when Smoot pulled up the music video to the song “Fate of Ophelia,” and Lilah danced to it.

Smoot decided to record the moment, which is when 2-year-old Lilah looked at Taylor Swift on the screen and said, “That’s my friend.”

The video was shared on TikTok and quickly went viral. Many viewers even tagged Swift in the hopes of the singer seeing it. 

Those hopes came true. 

Smoot got a call from her husband with the news about their GoFundMe, saying, “Taylor Swift just donated us $100,000.” She told People she thought her husband was joking at first. 

A message attached to the donation simply said, “Sending you the biggest hug to my friend Lilah.”

Smoot told People that knowing Swift saw the video makes her so happy and still feels unreal. She also said the support has only grown since the superstar’s donation. 

Although Lilah doesn’t quite understand fundraising, she does understand friendship, and now she knows for sure that she and Swift are friends. 

The family now plans to focus on the present moment, making as many fun memories with Lilah as possible, People reports.

Smoot said she and her family have hopes to start a nonprofit when they make it through this period in their lives.