Swifties send friendship bracelets to 13-year-old with brain tumor
Lily Tomlinson has received thousands of friendship bracelets from Taylor Swift fans, enough to fill seven pool noodles.
- Lily Tomlinson, a 13-year-old from Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with DIPG, a terminal brain tumor, in December.
- Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, have rallied around Lily, donating money, sending gifts and offering support.
- The family encourages people to continue sending letters and care packages to Lily, as they bring her joy and comfort.
Lily Tomlinson sits in her wheelchair on top of the patio she helped her dad built less than a year ago. Her demeanor is as calm as the Delaware River trickling past her Pipersville, Pennsylvania, home. Even after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis three months ago, the 13-year-old has made peace with what’s next.
“You just do a thumbs up through the hard times,” she says. A Taylor Swift fleece blanket covers her legs. A sticker of a black cat — which is her favorite animal — on her left cheek holds a soft nose tube providing nourishment. Lily’s right side has gone numb. With a smile, she raises her left hand.
“ A thumbs up means I can still hold my hand up,” she says. “I’m doing good. ‘Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave.’ I heard that on ‘Madagascar’ once.”
The sun glows behind the positive teen as she gently looks at her parents, Seth and Kelsey Tomlinson. The two are on leave from their jobs to make sure their daughter’s days are as bright as possible.
When asked what she wants her parents to know, Lily responds, “That I’ll always be with them.”
‘You can plan for a change in the weather and time’
“ Up until the beginning of December, Lily had no health issues whatsoever,” her dad explains. “She was not a sick kid, ever. She was very active, very physical. And then she started having trouble swallowing a little bit or chewing food, a little bit of dizziness.”
Initially, doctors thought the Bucks County teen might have vertigo. After tests, Lily received a cancer diagnosis of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). The incurable and terminal disease is a rare and aggressive brain tumor found on the brain stem.
“The typical prognosis is about eight months to a year after diagnosis,” her mom says. “Lily’s symptoms progressed very quickly so we were told that might not be our timeline.”
Lily received her final radiation treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania in January and moved back home to be with her parents and little brother, Luca.
“She lost use of her right side so she can’t walk,” Kelsey says. “She jokes that she’s a lefty anyway.”
‘Never imagined we’d end like this’
A string of Christmas lights are draped around Lily’s bedroom on the second floor. The white fluorescence dances across her Harry Potter and Eras Tour posters. The room feels stoic and untouched because she no longer sleeps there.
“She’s got a hospital bed in the living room,” Kelsey Tomlinson says. “It’s more central to everything. I sleep on the couch next to her just to keep an eye on her.”
The living room bursts with color and happiness. The words “Brave Lily” and “Swifties for Lily” hang above her hospital bed in bright pink. Seven pool noodles full of thousands of friendship bracelets sent from all over the world lie on a couch.
“There is just Taylor everywhere,” her mom says, pointing to a blanket rack full of cardigans.
“My mom’s always been a Swiftie,” Lily says. “We listen to Taylor Swift everywhere. I love how she’s really inspirational and she can do amazing things all by herself.”
‘I hope the sun shines and it’s a beautiful day’
Kelsey Tomlinson’s friend Jennifer McGlinchey set up a GoFundMe page for Lily in December shortly after the diagnosis, hoping to raise money for a wheelchair. Swifties donated in $13 increments as a nod to the singer’s favorite number. More than 1,400 participants raised $83,196, passing the goal of $75,000.
The giving continued beyond monetary donations with care packages, merchandise and heartfelt notes. Some sent prized CD inserts signed by Swift.
According to GoFundMe, Swifties were responsible for nearly 50,000 acts of kindness in 2024. From helping one another buy Eras Tour tickets to fundraising for weddings to helping Lily, the fans of the superstar showed their philanthropy.
“Thank you,” her dad says. “ Thousands of letters of people just giving positivity and love. We read every single one, and every single one makes me cry.”
“I don’t think we can do a big enough thanks,” her mom says. “Swifties are such a wonderful group of people. We haven’t seen a bad apple.”
The Tomlinsons encourage fans to send notes and care packages to: Lily Tomlinson, P.O. Box #366, Plumsteadville, PA 18949.
‘Forever the name on my lips’
Lily spends her days watching movies with her parents — the Eras Tour is on repeat — sketching with her left hand, being pushed around the trails on her family’s property and listening to Swift.
Her favorite song is “Last Kiss.”
“Mostly because it’s my dad’s favorite,” she says. “But I’ve always liked that song. It’s such a beautiful, sad song.”
The track from “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” chronicles teenage heartbreak after a boy walked away and left the narrator bereft over their final kiss.
“The song has a whole new meaning for me after we got Lily’s diagnosis,” her mom says. “One day, there will be a last kiss.”
Lily remains resilient, a trait she says she learned from one of her heroes: “Taylor has made me feel powerful. She is the most powerful woman that I can think of.”
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