After battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for four years, 12-year-old Emily Beazley of Chicago passed away on Monday, her mom, Nadia, wrote on Facebook.
The young girl made headlines in April when her idol, pop superstar Taylor Swift, gave her a call. The chat came after Beazley’s friends started a social media campaign and recorded a music video urging the “Bad Blood” singer, 25, to reach out to her.
“She knew all about me,” Beazley told The Chicago Tribune in April of the conversation. “She told me about her tour starting in Tokyo, she asked what my favorite song was, and I told her ‘Shake It Off.’ Then she said, ‘Oh, cool.’”
After being diagnosed with cancer at age 8, Beazley wanted to help other kids who were in similar situations.
“Even though she knew it was too late for her, she wanted people to continue to raise money for research,” Dr. Jason Canner, one of the pediatric oncologists who treated her, told The Chicago Tribune. “She wanted to help find a cure.”
Two years ago, Beazley and her family made a YouTube video with the Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., to help encourage other children battling cancer and to tout the treatment at the hospital.
The 12-year-old received a lot of support from her community, including the Chicago White Sox, who invited her to throw the first pitch recently.
#WhiteSox mourn the loss of our friend & fan, Emily Beazley. Our thoughts are with her family & friends. #EmilyStrong pic.twitter.com/CQ7pYxwILX
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 19, 2015
Beazley is survived by her parents Nadia and Ed, and younger sister Olivia.