The mother of a Taylor Swift concertgoer who died of heatstroke at the singer’s Rio de Janeiro concert last weekend has thanked fans for raising funds to bring her daughter’s remains home after she slammed event organizers for not helping facilitate her return.
Ana Clara Benevides’ mother, Adriana, appeared emotional in a video responding to a fundraiser launched after the young woman died after Friday’s Eras Tour show in Rio.
“Alhamdulillah, we achieved our goal this morning. We get the amount that allows us to do everything we want. Alhamdulillah, many have donated,” he said in video is translated on X.
Benevides, 23, fell ill early in the performance, and later died in hospital, a friend of the young woman told local outlet G1.
Organizers of the stadium show, Time For Fun (T4F), were later criticized for allegedly not helping the psychology student’s family transport his body back to his home state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Newsweek reported.
“This is the most painful. He has been there since Friday … the people from the concert who organized him did not support us to bring him home,” Benevides’ mother said in a tearful appearance on Brazilian television earlier this week, the outlet said.
Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, died at a Taylor Swift concert in Rio de Janeiro.Daniele Menin via O Correio News
“I know this doesn’t reach singers and artists don’t know about this but we want them to help us bring it home because we have to pay for everything,” he said.
Although the official cause of Benevides’ death has not been released, it is believed that he suffered from heat-related illness caused by the extreme temperatures at the concert.
At the time of the show, the temperature in Rio hovered around 102 degrees Fahrenheit — plus 70 percent humidity, which made it closer to 138 degrees Fahrenheit, according to PBS.
Taylor Swift later said she was “devastated” by the death.
In the wake of Benevides’ death, T4F also faced scrutiny for not allowing water bottles into the packed stadium despite extreme conditions — which ultimately forced Swift, 33, to postpone her concert on Saturday.
“I want it to be known whether they were actually forbidden to bring water, whether there was negligence in providing help,” Benevides’ father, Weiny Machado, told Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
T4F dismissed the criticism, stating that “the ban on water bottles entering the stadium is a requirement made by a public body” and that the organizers do not “sell drinks and food, which is the responsibility of the stadium administration,” Newsweek added.
Benevides is believed to have died of a heat-related illness. Ana Clara Benevides/Instagram
At several points during Friday’s show, Swift could be seen stopping to face the situation and asking for water for fans.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it’s with a broken heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” the “All Too Well” singer wrote of Benevides’ death on her Instagram Stories earlier. Saturday
“I can’t tell you how devastated I am by this,” he added, noting that he had “very little information” about what happened.
Swift had to postpone her performance on Saturday due to extreme temperatures.X/dayIightcamila
The Pennsylvania native then performed a moving rendition of his song “Bigger Than The Whole Sky” at his Sunday show, which many fans saw as a tribute to Benevides.
Swift is now believed to be reassessing her Thanksgiving plans after being devastated by the sudden loss.
“The Brazilian concert … He was very upset by the death of fans. The weather is extreme. A mess he didn’t expect. It was a traumatic experience. Already a lot. He will make a decision today,” an insider told Page Six of the singer’s apparent decision to stay in Brazil over the holiday weekend.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
