Till now, Taylor Swift’s uber-successful Eras Tour has been marked with the highest of highs, whether it is the concert film breaking records, the tour itself on its way to being the most successful in history, or the added spice of the singer’s romantic life. But it all has turned heartbreakingly tragic with the death of Ana Clara Benevides Machado.
Seeing an enthusiastic, crazy crowd, ready to wait for hours to get the best spot during a Taylor Swift concert is the norm. But we often don’t take into account the hardships the fans endure in their bid to be loyal fans — like braving unruly crowds, standing for hours at end, or extreme sweltering heat in 23-year-old Ana’s case.
For now, all that is known about Ana is she was a passionate Swiftie who was at a stadium in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to attend Taylor Swift’s concert on Nov. 17, 2023. She had been at the venue since 11 am, fanning herself to somehow beat the intense heat as she hoped to claim a front spot when the concert started.
As reported by The Sun, after approximately eight hours of battling the blistering sun and temperatures as high as 100F, Ana fainted and suffered a cardiac arrest. But after being tended to by the first responders, she was revived at the stadium as shared by her friend, Thiago Fernandes. Unfortunately, she went into a second cardiac arrest on the way to the Salagdo Filho Hospital and passed away during emergency care after arrival.
Ana had been excited to attend Taylor’s concert for a long time, as shared by Thiago in his tribute post to his friend on Instagram.
He also wants Ana’s picture to appear on the screens during Taylor Swift’s concert. So far, there has been no confirmation that such an ode will be paid to the loyal Swiftie or not. Ana’s death was further confirmed by Time for Fun, one of the concert organizers, who posted on X (formerly Twitter) to express their condolence to Ana’s family.
“Last night, Ana Clara felt unwell and was promptly attended to by the team of firefighters and paramedics, being taken to the medical center at the Nilton Santos Stadium for first aid protocol,” reads the tweet in Portuguese. “To the family and friends of Ana Clara Benevides Machado, our sincere condolences.”
Is Taylor Swift aware of Ana Clara Benevides’ tragic death?
Yes, and the Folklore singer has come forward to address the same via her Instagram Story, where she shared that her heart was “shattered” by the news of losing her fan right before her show.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it’s 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 she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
Swift has also established that as she is “overwhelmed by grief” whenever she tries to talk about Ana’s death, she won’t be talking about it during the remaining performances in Rio de Janeiro (one took place on Nov. 17 and two remain).
“I want to say now 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.”
Though she indeed did not broach the sad news after she took the stage Friday night, Swift did continue to pay heed to her fans during her performance, swiftly noticing when the crowd started chanting “water” and pausing her set to instruct the security guards to get tend to their needs.
Currently, social media is ablaze with sad and understandably incensed Swifties, who are calling out the event organizers for banning attendees from taking their own water bottles inside the stadium.
The strict rule has been in place despite there being no arrangement to ensure everyone gets instant and free access to water in the sweltering heat of the stadium, whose temperature reportedly skyrocketed to the thermal sensation of 60C.
Published: Nov 18, 2023 12:26 pm