Father of fan who died before Taylor Swift concert pays tribute to daughter
The father of a fan who died before a Taylor Swift concert in Brazil this week (November 18) has paid tribute to his daughter.
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Swift released a statement yesterday saying she was “devastated” after hearing a fan had died before her concert show in Brazil.
Ana Clara Benevides, 23, reportedly fainted at the show and suffered a cardiac arrest. The cause of death is yet unknown.
Temperatures in Brazil reached over 100 degrees (38 Celsius) and videos later circulated online of Swift pausing her show to make sure fans received water.
Benevides father, Weiny Machado, 53, has spoken to Folha de São Paulo newspaper praising his “happy and intelligent” daughter.
He said: “I lost my only daughter, a happy and intelligent girl. She was about to graduate in Psychology next April, saving money. I have no words to express my pain. She left home to fulfill a dream and came back dead.”
Machado went on to say how he wanted an investigation into what happened amid reports that fans were not allowed to take water into the venue, despite the high temperatures.
“I want it to be found out whether they were in fact prohibited from bringing water, whether there was negligence in providing assistance.
“I know that the singer was handing out water to her fans, and that is absurd for an event of this size. Nothing will bring my daughter back, but I hope that, if negligence is confirmed, someone will be punished, so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else” (via The Mirror).
The organisers of the gig, T4F, an entertainment company also known as Time For Fun, released a statement regarding Ana’s death yesterday after Swift made the decision to cancel her second Brazil show due to the extreme heat.
They said (via The Mirror): “Given the forecast of an increase in the heat wave in the city, we inform you that we are reinforcing the special action plan carried out for the first day of the show, especially the provision of free water in the queues and at all accesses and entrances to the stadium and inside. In this way, new free water distribution points will be available to the public during the event.
“Entry into the stadium with sealed glasses of water and sealed processed food will also be permitted, with no limitation on items per person. We clarify that the requirement for items to be sealed follows safety recommendations.”
In her statement following news of the fan’s death, Swift wrote: “I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with 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 that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
She continued: “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. 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.”
Swift paused her show to make sure fans received water. “There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back,” she said to the crew during the ‘Evermore’ segment of her show.
“So whoever is in charge of giving them that, just make sure that happens. Can I get a signal that you know where they are?”
In one clip the audience can be heard shouting “water, water, water” after temperatures soared inside.
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