Patty Garner Anderson will forever remember the smile on her daughter Ally’s face at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop on July 1 in Cincinnati. Swift danced down the stage and Ally handed over the famous fedora from her “22” costume.
“It changed my daughter’s life immensely,” Patty tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I haven’t seen Ally smile and laugh like this in a very long time.”
Ally, who has been living with cancer since 2018, posted a TikTok video from that night showing her standing in the bathroom putting a hat on her head and then putting her hand over her mouth. “what happened,” she captioned the video. She shared another video on TikTok of the moment Swift put the hat on her head.
“There are no words to describe what it feels like to be pulled out of your seats and onto the floor,” she writes. “I knew right away. Taylor was my first concert so many years ago. Such a full-circle moment, honestly.”
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Patty says she and Ally were original Swift fans. When Ally was 8, her first concert was Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour in 2015.
But in September 2018, when she was 11 years old, Allyn’s life changed. She was diagnosed with stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer. During her battle with cancer, Patty says Taylor’s music constantly “brought light into Ally’s life.”
Like many fans, she “knew every single word to every single song,” says Patty, describing Ally as “kind, loving, fierce.”
Her love for Swift’s music was evident. “Ally played music while she was still in the shower, when she was tidying up her room, when we were driving anywhere. That’s really all she played.”
Ally even got a tattoo on her left forearm with lyrics from Swift’s song, “The 1”: “And if you never bleed, you’ll never grow.”
Taylor Swift hands Ally Anderson her hat at the Cincinnati stop of her Eras Tour in July.
Patty Garner Anderson
Through social media, Ally found connections with “Swiftie” friends who also battled childhood cancer. “It gave her an escape and a sense of belonging,” Patty explains.
That is one of the reasons why that July night was so special to her.
We had the opportunity to meet Taylor’s mom Andrea at the concert, says Patty. “We couldn’t thank her enough for choosing Ally for the hat, but I hope one day I can meet Taylor and Andrea to express how much that night meant to Ally.”
After a five-year battle with cancer, Ally died on November 13 at the age of 16.
Patty’s mom sees the importance of that. “As you know Taylor Swift’s favorite number is 13. Ally passed away on 11/13/23 at 1:40pm on the 13th day at the 13th hour.”
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Ally Anderson, Andrea Swift and Patty Garner Anderson on the Eras Tour in July.
Patty Garner Anderson
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After Ally’s death, her friends and family shared videos and words of love for Ally on social media. Her friend Katie Histing writes on Facebook that Ally “loved Taylor Swift, cats, journalism, music, cheerleading and so much more.”
“She was special,” Histing continued.
Another friend of Ally’s, Ava, who also loved Swift, posted a tribute to her friend on TikTok. “soul mates are not just lovers,” the video says. In October, Ava posted a compilation of photos of the two on TikTok.
“best friend gratitude post. (because i have the best),” she captioned the post.
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Source: HIS Education