This Teen With Cancer Just Got The Best Surprise — A $10,000 Donation From Taylor Swift Herself
16-year-old Trinity Foster is having a tough time paying for her treatment for stage IV osteosarcoma, but a major donation from her favorite superstar just made her day.
Taylor Swift has just made a really tough time a little bit sweeter for one of her millions of devoted fans. Trinity Foster, a 16-year-old girl with stage IV osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, created a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for her cancer treatment. The page caught the eye of the superstar singer, who donated $10,000 to the page and added a personal note.
"Trinity, I saw photos of your album release party that you did in your hospital room and wanted to say thank you for being so kind and supportive!" Swift wrote. "I hope I can give you a hug in person soon, but in the meantime I wanted to send you this and all my love. Your friend, Taylor"
Trinity Foster, like so many patients with cancer, was having trouble paying for the medical bills associated with her care. On the GoFundMe page, she wrote, "I am Trinity Foster, I am 16 and I have been diagnosed with stage 4 osteosarcoma, which has spread to my lung, I had to have a feeding tube put in because I couldn’t get enough nutrition.”
The young patient continued, “The chemo is really hard for me and my insurance doesn’t cover everything that I need, we have tried to get other insurances like ten care but were told we did not apply. This is a very hard time for me and my family and if you have anything to donate it would be very much appreciated and helpful."
Trinity Foster’s hospital room, decorated to celebrate the release of Taylor Swift’s new album, “Lover.” (Image source: @trin_bear1/ Instagram)
Before the $10,000 donation from the 29-year-old Swift, Trinity's GoFundMe page had raised roughly $4,000. Now, in the wake of the high-profile donation, Trinity has exceeded her fundraising goal.
Swift’s new album, “Lover,” released August 23.
The donation brought Trinity a tremendous amount of joy. On her Instagram page, the young Taylor fan posted a screenshot of the donation with a caption that read, "OMG DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!"
Taylor Swift's donation came after Trinity posted an Instagram photo of a party she had in her hospital room to celebrate the release of Swift's new album, "Lover." The hospital room was decorated with pink streamers and butterfly and heart decals.
Trinity Foster’s hospital room, decorated to celebrate the release of Taylor Swift’s new album, “Lover.” (Image source: @trin_bear1/ Instagram)
The caption read, "Just incase you guys didn't know… lover is the best thing ever. So Friday we had to have a party for such greatness." She tagged Taylor Swift's Instagram page in the caption, and to her delight, the post caught her favorite star's attention.
Osteosarcoma, A Rare Cancer That Begins in the Bones
The type of cancer that 16-year-old Trinity Foster has, osteosarcoma, is one that begins in the bone tissue. The cancer is most commonly diagnosed in children and young adults, and according to the American Cancer Society, the tumors tend to begin in the bones around the ends of the leg or arm bones — that is, near the shoulders and knees, areas in which the bones grow quickly in young adults. When it’s spread throughout the body, as it has for Trinity Foster, the cancer has around a 27 percent 5-year survival rate, which means roughly 27 percent of patients diagnosed with osteosarcoma will go on to live five years or more. Though every patient is different and treatment regimens differ from patient to patient, standard treatment for osteosarcoma usually includes surgery to remove the bone tumor(s) as well as chemotherapy to target the cancerous cells.
Earlier this year, Swift revealed that her mom, Andrea, was again battling cancer. Though she kept the details of the diagnosis private, we do know that this is Andrea's second bout with the disease. Now, one of Swift's songs on her new album "Lover," (for which Trinity Foster hosted her hospital-room album release party) touches on the challenges of watching someone you love fight the disease.
The song, "Soon You'll Get Better," is an emotional track that stands out among the album's mostly-upbeat and peppy songs. Her lyrics include, "I hate to make this all about me / But who am I supposed to talk to, What am I supposed to do? / If there's no you."
Taylor Swift and her mother, Andrea, who has been battling cancer (Image source: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
Swift spoke about the song in a YouTube Live session ahead of her album's Aug. 23 release. "That was really, really hard to write, and it was just a family decision whether to even put it on the album," Swift said. "We as a family decided to put this on the album, and it's something I'm so proud of, but it's just really hard. I can't sing it. It's hard to just emotionally deal with that song."
