The devastated mother of the Taylor Swift concertgoer who died from extreme heat at the singer’s Rio de Janeiro concert last weekend thanked fans for crowdfunding to bring her daughter’s body home after she slammed the event organizers for not helping to facilitate her return.
Ana Clara Benevides’ mother, Adriana, appeared emotional in a video responding to the fundraiser that was launched after the young woman died after Friday’s Eras Tour show in Rio.
“Thank God, we got reached the goal this morning. We got an amount that allows us to do everything we wanted. Thank God, a lot of people have donated,” she said in video translated on X.
Benevides, 23, became sick at the beginning of the show, and later died at the hospital, the young woman’s friend told the local G1 outlet.
The stadium show’s organizers, Time For Fun (T4F), subsequently came under fire for allegedly not helping the psychology student’s family transport her body back to her home state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Newsweek reported.
“This is what hurts the most. She’s been there since Friday….the people from the concert who put it together aren’t giving us the support to bring her home,” Benevides’ mother said in a tearful appearance on Brazilian television earlier this week, the outlet noted.
“I know these things don’t get through to the singers and the artists don’t know about this but we wanted them to help us bring her home because we’re having to pay for everything,” she said.
Although Benevides’ official cause of death has not been released, she is believed to have suffered from heat-related illness stemming from the extreme temperatures at the concert.
At the time of the show, temperatures in Rio hovered around 102 degrees Fahrenheit – coupled with 70 percent humidity, which made it feel closer to 138 degrees Fahrenheit, according to PBS.
In the wake of Benevides’ death, T4F also faced scrutiny for not allowing water bottles into the packed stadium despite the extreme conditions – which ultimately forced Swift, 33, to postpone her Saturday concert.
“I want it to be found out whether they were in fact prohibited from bringing water, whether there was negligence in providing assistance,” Benevides’ father, Weiny Machado, told Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
T4F deflected the criticism, stating that “the prohibition of bottles of water entering stadiums is a requirement made by public bodies” and that the organizer does not “ sell drinks and food, which is the responsibility of the stadium administration,” Newsweek added.
At multiple points during the Friday show, Swift could be seen stopping to cope with the conditions and to ask for water for the fans.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” the “All Too Well” songstress wrote of Benevides’ death on her Instagram Stories early Saturday morning.
“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” she added, noting that she had “very little information” about what happened.
The Pennsylvania native later performed a moving rendition of her song “Bigger Than The Whole Sky” at her Sunday show, which many fans perceived as a tribute to Benevides.
Swift is now believed to be reevaluating her Thanksgiving plans after being knocked sideways by the sudden loss.
“The Brazil concerts … She is devastated about a fan dying. The weather is extreme. It’s a mess she didn’t expect. It’s been a traumatic experience. It’s been a lot. She is going to decide today,” an insider told Page Six of the singer’s apparent decision to stay in Brazil over the holiday weekend.
