Taylor Swift fan Samantha Bulloch has revealed her dying wish is to meet the singer and made a last-minute request to make her dreams come true.
Samantha, 29, from Sydney, had just three years to live when she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer a year ago.
Now Samantha has taken to social media to make a heartfelt request to anyone who could arrange for her to meet Taylor during the Australian leg of her Eras tour.
The Swiftie already has a ticket to Taylor's final show in Sydney on February 26, but is desperate for the chance to meet the global megastar backstage.
She gushed that it would “make her year” and said she wanted to tell Taylor how much she meant to her, having been a die-hard fan since she was 15.
Taylor Swift fan Samantha Bulloch has revealed her dying wish is to meet the singer and made a last-minute request to make her dreams come true
Samantha told 7Life: “Taylor means so much to me and I would love the opportunity to tell her how much she has influenced my life.”
“I've loved her since I was 15, and her music has accompanied me through so many chapters of my life – including this one.”
Samantha said she recently had Taylor's lyrics “For the Hope of It All” from her song “August” tattooed on her arm to encourage her to live life to the fullest amid her battle with cancer.
“I adopted this text during my experience with cancer. “I choose to live for the hope of everything,” she explained.
She made a heartfelt request to anyone who might be able to arrange a meeting with Taylor, saying: “I'm dying low key and honestly, this would just make my year.”
Taylor's Eras tour kicks off at Melbourne's Cricket Ground on February 16, with the star taking the stage three nights in a row before a four-night run at Sydney's Accor Stadium from February 23-26.
Samantha's life was turned upside down last year when she was told she had just three years to live after doctors found life-threatening tumors in her colon, liver and right lung during a routine blood test.
Samantha took to social media to make a heartfelt request to anyone who could arrange for her to meet Taylor during the Australian leg of her Eras tour
On February 28, the then 28-year-old library assistant received a devastating diagnosis: stage four colon cancer that had spread to her organs.
“I don't drink, I don't smoke, I'm not overweight, I don't eat processed meat, I barely eat red meat and I don't have a family history of bowel cancer – it just didn't make sense.”' Samantha told FEMAIL about her diagnosis in December.
She was diagnosed with cancer after visiting her GP for a blood test to check her iron levels.
Her symptoms included “random” fatigue, occasional bloating and some blood spots in 2020, which she attributed to stress.
Blood test results confirmed she was anemic, but also showed her liver enzymes were “three times above normal.”
The GP made an appointment for an ultrasound scan of Samantha's liver, which revealed “non-specific lesions” and a mass. The report also listed a number of possible diseases, including cancer.
“When I saw it, I thought it was a death sentence,” she said.
The Swiftie already has a ticket to Taylor's final show in Sydney on February 26, but is desperate for the chance to meet the global megastar backstage
A week later, the results of a CT scan confirmed Samantha's worst fears: a tumor was growing in her sigmoid colon and had spread to her liver and right lung.
“I thought, 'How can I live with tumors growing in my body without me knowing about it?'” “It was wild for me,” she said.
“I remember at that appointment with my GP and my dad thinking, ‘It’s over, they’re going to tell me there’s nothing they can do.’ I knew how bad it was and that really scared me. “
The tumor in her colon was 6 cm, the two in her liver were 8 cm, and the tumor in her right lung was 1.5 cm. She also had a number of small tumors scattered throughout her liver that could not be measured .
The life-changing news shook Samantha to her core and she initially thought, “I can't do this, I don't want to do this, I'm not strong enough to do this.”
“I didn't even want to try, but somehow I put on my big girl pants and went to the next appointment. “The first few months were so up and down emotionally – I couldn’t stop crying on the first day of treatment.”
Two days after the diagnosis, she met with an oncologist and “hardly remembers the conversation” after receiving the serious, life-changing news.
Instead of undergoing surgery first, doctors decided to use chemotherapy to shrink the tumors.
Samantha began treatment on March 31 and has had visits every two weeks since then. By her sixth chemotherapy session, the tumors had shrunk significantly.
She gushed that it would “make her year” and said she wanted to tell Taylor how much she meant to her, having been a die-hard fan since she was 15
In early October, an examination found that the colon tumor had “collapsed,” meaning it was lying flat against the colon wall.
The tumor in the lungs could no longer be measured because it is now too small and one in the liver is less than 2 cm and the other less than 3 cm.
“So far I have responded very positively to the treatment – better than my doctor expected,” she said. “It really was a miracle and I’m so glad it worked so well.”
Samantha said she thought she was already nine months along until the doctor assured her that “it doesn't quite work that way.”
She explained that after each examination the clock is restarted based on the scans, as time does not restart with the diagnosis but with the last scan.
“My doctor told me if the treatment doesn't work, it will be less than 12 months.” “If it works, I hope to give you two to three years,” she said.
Samantha, 29, from Sydney, had just three years to live when she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer a year ago
“My mother died of breast cancer when I was ten years old. The cancer started in stage one or two and then progressed to stage four. It was very aggressive and went to her liver, then she went downhill very quickly.
“That’s why I associate liver cancer with really bad news, because I’ve seen it firsthand.”
“I surprised myself with the fact that I did it.” [the ability to do this] and push through. “I was able to come to terms with and accept that I have cancer,” she continued.
“If you had told me last year that I would be diagnosed with cancer and that I would actually be okay emotionally, I wouldn't have believed you. 'You'll be surprised at what you can do.'