In 2010, Ronan Thompson’s parents received news about Ronan that would change his, their and millions of people’s lives forever.

You see in 2010, Ronan’s mum Maya was just like any other mum; happily raising her kids in the crazy whirlwind of life that we all know it is.

It was then that her World would tilt on its axis and throw her entire family into a terrifying spin. Ronan was at the time 3 and was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer.

Even though Ronan was a tough little guy and fought as hard as he could, he passed away months later in May 2011.  He died just days short of his fourth birthday.

Ronan would be 8 this year.  So big!  And from following Maya’s stream of consciousness on her blog – rockstarronan.com we know her heart breaks every moment she acknowledges her little boy is gone.

Maya’s blog reaches millions of readers – it’s become a daily read for people everywhere.

Her incredible honesty and passionate posts have captured people right around the globe including … Taylor Swift!

Taylor Swift followed Maya’s blog and was so moved by the story, she wrote the song ‘Ronan’.

The song is beautiful, moving and deeply personal.  It incorporates some of the moments Maya wrote about during her journey with Ronan from diagnosis to his passing and beyond. Because of this, Taylor Swift has given Maya Thompson a co-writing credit and now all proceeds from the song go straight to The Ronan Thompson Foundation and other charities fighting childhood cancer.

Until now, Taylor Swift had only performed ‘Ronan’ once – at the 2012 ‘Stand up to Cancer’ TV event.

So you can imagine the surprise when Maya, her husband their children attended the concert in Phoenix.  Maya’s wrote on her blog that they only found out at the last minute they were going to the concert and the kids were asking if they’d get to meet Taylor Swift.

They sure did …

Not only did they get to meet Taylor Swift, but she sang ‘Ronan’ for the first time since 2012 and introduced it with a tribute to Maya, Ronan, their bravery and their fight against childhood cancer.

Taylor Swift’s mother has also recently been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing treatment so there weren’t many dry eyes anywhere.

 

Needless to say, it was an emotional time and one that will stay with not only Maya and her family but with every member of the audience on that night in Arizona.

Here’s the first time Taylor Swift performed ‘Ronan’ – back in 2012

If you’d like to support The Ronan Thompson Foundation by purchasing Taylor Swift’s song ‘Ronan’ CLICK HERE.

Please pass this onto anyone you know struggling with cancer – whether it’s them, their child or a parent.  The sentiments in the song ‘Ronan’ apply to everyone.

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