'She was so humble,' says metro Detroit teen after meeting Taylor Swift
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By Amy Andrews Fox 2 News
MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (WJBK) -- Kayla Kincannon was diagnosed with her first brain tumor at age 16 and her second at 17. While this high school junior is fighting for her life, Monday she was on top of the world.
"It was by far the best day of my life," she said.
In the midst of a ferocious battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer, the smile on Kincannon's face doesn't waver. Friends and family will tell you she's the sweetest and strongest girl they know.
"I'm not completely unafraid of this cancer. I still have my fears and my days of doubt, but I'm living in spite of that fear and I'm living my life in spite of having this cancer," she said.
That's why they set out on a mission to make her wish come true.
Kincannon used to sing along to Taylor Swift for hours in the mirror when she was a little girl. Now she listens to her to get through the dark times.
"To me fearless isn't the absence of fear, but living in spite of those things that scare you to death," she said.
Last week, Kincannon and her family traveled to Tennessee looking for treatment options, and what she got in return no medicine could match. Swift's tour bus rolled up to their hotel in Memphis.
"We were in the hotel eating breakfast, and my dad's like, 'The bus is here.' And I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm about to go on Taylor's bus."
Kincannon and her family were then whisked away to Nashville for a two hour lunch with the superstar.
"She was so humble and so real and so down to earth and like she wasn't fancy and dressed up. She was like in jeans," she said.
What makes this story even better is how the lunch date came about.
Late last year, Kincannon's classmates at Lamphere High School launched the social media campaign "Operation Get Kayla to Meet Taylor Swift". After hundreds of tweets, emails and Facebook posts, their persistence paid off.
"I couldn't say enough words to express my gratitude for them, and other schools that don't like my school and people at my school don't like each other, but they came together," she said.
The meeting with Swift lasted only a few hours, but the memory from Kincannon's lunch date will stay in her heart forever. So will the love and support from a community that refused to give up on making her dream become a reality.
"I just have to say a huge thank you to Taylor and to the students at my school because they made this happen," she said.
Kincannon is still under her doctor's care, but she is feeling well enough to return to school on Tuesday.
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