Taylor Swift fan Scarlett Oliver, who made headlines at Sydney concert, dies aged 9 after cancer diagnosis

Scarlett Oliver, a nine-year-old Taylor Swift fan, passed away on April 27, following a battle with brain cancer. The same day, her father, Paul, uploaded some pictures of Scarlett on Instagram and informed everyone that his daughter had passed away just a few days before turning ten. The caption of the post read:

“My Angel, so strong, so brave, so beautiful. Nothing will ever be the same again. Don’t forget me and please find a way to let me know you are ok. Goodnight baby, I love you – Dad. It’s just not fair.”

She went viral after her stepmother, Natalie, first posted her story on social media in February 2024. In the post, Natalie revealed that the child had been diagnosed with a brain cancer known as a high-grade glioma, which is incurable and extremely aggressive.

She also wrote that Scarlett wants to meet Taylor Swift, adding how it was made possible "through the power of social media and some generous people."

On February 23, 2024, Scarlett attended the Love Story singer's concert, where she saw Swift autograph the popular Hit 22 hats and distribute them.

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How Scarlett Oliver ended up attending the Taylor Swift concert

Taylor Swift's fan, Scarlett Olive's, father made the news public (Image via Instagram @taylorswift and @natoliver22)

In her post dated February 23, Natalie Oliver mentioned that Scarlett has a "high-grade glioma...a very aggressive brain cancer with no cure."

She made a wish to meet Swift via the Make-a-Wish Foundation, but they later told her it couldn't be fulfilled. Nevertheless, determined to make the wish come true, Scarlett and her stepmother took to social media.

There, they posted a cute picture of the young girl carrying a placard, which read:

"Taylor, may I have the '22' hat? Please.”

The 22 hat is the black hat that Swift famously wears when performing the popular song 22, which typically launches the Red phase of her show. During the song, she walks to the end of the stage and gives the hat to a lucky fan.

Despite the initial hiccup, Scarlett did finally attend Taylor's Sydney event at Accor Stadium on the opening night in February. Details about how this was made possible remained under wraps at the time of writing.

Scarlett's wish was eventually granted when Taylor gave her a hug and put the hat 22 hat on her head during the performance, capturing the hearts of viewers on social media, where a video of the same was posted on February 24.

Earlier this month, Scarlett's father claimed in an Instagram statement that his “beautiful” child was probably only a few “weeks rather than months” away from death because of her recent poor health:

"Last night after discharge from PCH she suffered a significant seizure and was rushed to hospital via ambulance. She has now stabilised but remains in hospital very unwell. Oncology doctors have informed us that based on an MRI scan and recent events that her prognosis is dire...Her birthday is on May 7th and they have concerns that she will not get to enjoy that."

He further said that she had to spend a long portion of her school break in hospital as she was vomiting, struggling with extreme tiredness, and was having issues with her feeding tube.

Unfortunately, on April 27, it was announced that Scarlett had passed away.

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Scarlett's aunt created a fundraising website prior to her untimely death in order to collect funds so that her family may take care of her and spend time with her. It had raised almost $101,344 AUD (£66,219) at the time of writing.