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On Nov. 17, a young Taylor Swift fan named Ana Clara Benevides Machado died while attending the singer’s Eras Tour in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
At the time of the concert, Rio de Janeiro was impacted by a heatwave that resulted in dangerously high temperatures, meaning that several fans of Taylor’s spent hours in extreme heat ahead of her show. The concertgoers were also reportedly banned from bringing their own water bottles into the arena in line with the rules of the venue, resulting in Taylor having to request water for them from the stage.
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Another fan who was present at the show later recounted his own terrifying experience in the crowd, while Ana’s parents spoke out about how devastated they were.
Ana’s mom, Adriana Benevides, publicly cried over the fact that their family couldn’t afford to fly Ana’s body home from Rio, with Ana having traveled from the small district of Sonora specifically for the concert. After hearing this, several fans of Taylor’s decided to raise a reported R$30,000 — which is around $6,000 — in less than 12 hours for Ana’s family.
The day after Ana’s death, Taylor wrote on her Instagram Story that she was utterly “devastated” and “overwhelmed by grief.” She said, “I can't believe I'm writing these words. but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. I can't even tell you how devastated I am by this.”
“There's very little information I have other than the fact that she was incredibly beautiful and far too young,” she continued. “I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now that I feel this loss deeply and my heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Taylor then appeared to honor Ana during her next stage appearance on Nov. 19, singing her poignant song about loss, “Bigger Than The Whole Sky.” However, it was initially unclear whether or not Taylor had been communicating with Ana’s family after her death; last week, one of Ana’s cousins, Gabriela Benevides, denied news reports that Taylor had contacted their family. A representative for Ana’s family did not respond when contacted by BuzzFeed, and Taylor’s publicist declined to comment.
But now, it’s been reported that Taylor invited Ana’s family to her final Brazil tour stop in São Paulo this past weekend.
A source close to Taylor told People that on Sunday night, the singer welcomed Ana‘s family backstage at her show.
In a photo circulating across social media, Taylor can be seen with the members of Ana’s family, all of whom were wearing white t-shirts with a photo of Ana on the front. The family was also seen watching Taylor’s show from a VIP tent on the floor.
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