Taylor Swift is heartbroken over the passing of one of her fans. And now she’s making a difficult decision about her upcoming shows:
While performing in Brazil, the country is enduring a dangerous heat wave. As a result, people were put in place during the first night of her Eras Tour to hand out waters to those in the audience in an attempt to keep everyone safe.
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In fact, during several of her songs, Swift was captured tossing water into the crowd when she saw someone in distress or calling out for those in charge to help as she continued to sing.
@mobertha Queen Tay stopping the concert to make sure fans get water🥹 #taylorswift #erastour #riodejaneiro #rioerastour
According to the Associated Press, it’s so incredibly hot in Brazil that temperatures reached nearly 60 degrees Celsius; that’s 137 degrees Fahrenheit. Videos from Brazil Night 1 also captured how red Taylor became while performing the nearly 4-hour show.
@mateusbenac
Now, Taylor and her fandom are mourning the loss of one of her own. In a statement shared by the singer herself, one of her Brazilian fans passed away shortly before her show started due to heat stroke.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I saw we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” Swift began.
“There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young. 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,” Swift continued.
“I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken 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.”
The fan has been identified by the AP as Ana Clara Benevides Machado. In a statement made by organizers, Time4Fun, Machado began feeling unwell while at the stadium and sought the help of paramedics. She was brought to the stadium’s first aid center before being rushed to the hospital.
At the hospital, she died an hour after arriving.
It’s unclear how Swift and her team will handle the next several shows as temperatures continue to climb. Reports suggest the concertgoers were allowed to bring their own water into the stadium for other safety reasons. It’s unclear if that will change as the shows continue.
However, on Twitter, Justice Minister Flávio Dino claimed that the ministry will implement “emergency rules” regarding access to water at shows and other public events,” the AP reports.
As the AP reports, temperatures this high is rare considering it’s still only spring and not yet summer in that part of the world. According to hydrologist Javier Tomasella, the rise in global temperatures, “We have never seen anything like it.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with Machado’s family and friends as they mourn this devastating loss.
