Taylor Swift to Make a Wish Come True for Young Girl With Heart Defect
Here’s another one for the ‘Taylor Swift is an awesome person’ file. For her latest act of kindness, Miss Swift will make 12-year-old Brittney Kuhl’s dreams come true by meeting her in person. Like most girls her age, Brittney idolizes the award-winning country star. Only, her story is a little different: The talented singing and dancing adolescent has a life-threatening heart condition.
Brittney suffers from a heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The disease has required her to undergo multiple surgeries — five to be exact — and take multiple pills per day. But the charismatic pre-teen doesn’t let her serious illness get her down. Known as miss personality around Whitman Middle School, the Kuhl sings, plays basketball and participates on her school’s dance team.
Like any young girl with an aspiration to sing, Brittney is dying to meet Taylor Swift. And thanks to the compassion of students at Whitefish Bay High School, she’s going to get that chance.
The students met Kuhl through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. They have spent the past year raising money through a car wash, raffle, dodgeball, ice cream social and other efforts, and now that they have racked up $6,500 for their sweet friend, she is going to get her chance to meet the ‘Safe & Sound’ hitmaker. Brittney told reporters that she hopes to sing a duet with Swift and show the music star some of her own songs.
“My wish is to meet Taylor Swift, because she’s like my idol and I have all of her CDs,” she added in a YouTube video. “I love to sing, so I’ve always wanted to meet her. I’m going to be really excited — my mom and my dad are. My brother… maybe not so much.”
While the fundraising was an effort put forth by dozens of students, one girl in particular stands out. Senior Maggie Anderson first had the idea to raise money for the Make-a-Wish foundation when she saw a recipient of the program get their wish of meeting Maroon 5. Since the first time she met Brittney, she knew she wanted to make the girl’s dream of getting up close and personal with Swift a reality. In Brittney’s words, “After I meet her, I’ll feel really good.”
Of course, no country music fans should be surprised that Taylor Swift is taking the time to hang out with the 12-year-old aspiring singer. Swift has responded to several requests to reach out to sick kids in the past few months, including two prom invitations (one from Kevin McGuire, another from Devin Whitney). Country music’s sweetheart sure does have a big heart of her own!
Update: Brittney is only one of many children whose wish will be granted courtesy of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and artists like Taylor Swift. As the Make-a-Wish program states, “For each child’s wish, the Make-a-Wish Foundation covers all expenses associated with the experience for the entire family. The national Adopt-a-Wish program allows our generous donors to fund the entire cost of a child’s wish.” In other words, Make-a-Wish makes the magic happen when the timing is right for each child, but those who want to be involved in creating a joyous experience for children like Brittney can also help to raise funds for such wishes. You can contact your local Make-a-Wish chapter to get involved.