‘She inspires me’: How Taylor helped Zara Bryan-Mathieson get through cancer treatments

Taylor Swift’s songs helped her 9-year-old fan Zara be Fearless throughout many hospital visits since she was diagnosed with leukaemia. Seeing her “in real life” is everything.

Zara Bryan-Mathieson’s Wildest Dreams will come true on Saturday when she sees Taylor Swift “in real life”.

The 9-year-old is one of fifteen young fans attending the Eras Tour thanks to the Starlight Children’s Foundation. It will be her very first concert.

“I love her so much,” Zara told The Daily Telegraph at home in Turramurra, where concert preparations are in full swing.

Sparkly dress, check. Friendship bracelets, check. Parents organised, check.

“I got diagnosed with cancer two years ago. The first cannula was in my hand with my daddy Callum, and I couldn’t do most things. I became a huge Swiftie,” she said.

Zara is attending the second of Swift’s four Sydney concerts with her dads, Callum and Clint Bryan-Mathieson, and her sister Aiden, 7. Her younger sister Charlotte, 4, is too young to go along, but will be cheering her elder sibling on.

Charlotte, 5, with her sister Zara Bryan-Mathieson, 9, celebrate her Taylor Swift tickets, at home in Turramurra, today. Thanks to Starlight, she will attend Taylor Swift's show in Sydney on Saturday night. Picture: Justin Lloyd/The Daily Telegraph.

“Sometimes in hospital I’d put on some songs while I was getting blood taken,” Zara said. “It calmed me down.”

Zara was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2021, a type of blood cancer that starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow. It is diagnosed in younger people, and chemotherapy is the main treatment.

“Whenever her music goes on in the car I like to daydream about how cool she is and maybe things that I can’t do,” she said. “I can’t sing like she can but her songs makes me feel way better, like I can do things more than I can do right now.”

When the young Swiftie first returned to school, she was bald and in a wheelchair and still struggles with hip problems caused by the steroids.

“But when I go to that concert I’m going to be able to dance and I’m going to sing so hard I lose my voice,” she said.

Zara has picked out her outfit and made her friendship bracelets for the concert. Picture: Justin Lloyd/The Daily Telegraph.

“If I could say one thing to Taylor Swfit, it would be: HI! I love you,” Zara said. Picture: Justin Lloyd/The Daily Telegraph.

“Zara is a year out of formal treatment,” Zara’s dad Clint said. “She’s back to normal, school, sports, and friends. I was saying to [my husband] Cal, in these past six months we’ve been seeing these glimpses of old Zara that we used to have.”

Taylor Swift performs at Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 16. Picture: Graham Denholm

“She kind of went away a little bit, she went into battle mode subconsciously,” he continued. “Now, she’s starting to see cancer as something that happened as opposed to something that has and will define her life.”

“Every trip to and from the hospital was soundtracked by Taylor. We didn’t realise how enamoured she was with her until any time Taylor would be on TV, she would explode. There was no question when the time came around for the Starlight Wish, what we would do.”

While Zara and her sisters are counting down the minutes until show time, there’s just one thing left to do: “Alexa, play Taylor Swift.”

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