Teen surprised with Taylor Swift tickets after 325 days in hospital (exclusive)

Brilea Southard has been in hospital for 325 days, recovering from serious injuries after another car collided head-on with the family’s minivan.

She was supposed to be released in a month, but after an unexpected announcement, the 15-year-old will take her first steps out of the hospital in an unforgettable way: she will go to “Taylor Swift”The third performance of the Eras Tour in Indianapolis on Sunday, November 3, Swift’s last concert in the Indiana capital.

Southard isn’t the only one who will get to enjoy the 34-year-old Swift sold out trip. The teenager will be joined by 15 other patients at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis who are undergoing treatment for a variety of health issues.

The 16 pediatric patients learned the news this week at the hospital, where they thought they were simply participating in a Swift-inspired event to make friendship bracelets and play “Taylor Trivia.”

The final trivia question revealed a big surprise. “Who will be at Taylor’s last concert on the last leg of her US tour in Indianapolis?” – asked a hospital employee.

“Um… Travis Kelce?” – the patient guessed.

“Good guess, but no,” they were told. “You all go!”

One girl jumped out of her chair with excitement, others gasped and started crying with joy.

The news about concert tickets may be the best news they’ve had in a long time for some children. For Southard, the exciting journey comes later in December, she and her family were involved in an accident 2023, where she suffered a torn aorta and legs so crushed that doctors said they had to be amputated.

“I only had a four percent chance of survival,” Southard tells PEOPLE. Since then, she has had more than 20 surgeries, but her intestines and other organs remain damaged, and “she sedates and changes dressings twice a week,” her mother, Paula Allen, explains to PEOPLE.

Fortunately, doctors managed to save her legs.

Southard, a longtime Swiftie who dressed up as the superstar for Halloween, says the pop superstar’s music relaxes her during painful procedures, so the chance to see her perform live is “simply stunning.”

“This will make a huge difference,” adds Southard. The teenager plans to wear black flared leggings and a sequined jacket with fringes. She will be accompanied by two nurses and a doctor and will return immediately.

“I feel very blessed,” she tells PEOPLE.

Another patient who was surprised to receive free suite tickets during the event is 12-year-old Emma Sully, who underwent a heart transplant at Riley in December 2022.

“I literally can’t stop crying right now!” says Sully. “I can’t right now… I just can’t. I can’t hold back my emotions anymore.”

7-year-old Ja’isaibella (Izzy) Boyd will also go to the show. He suffers from sickle cell anemia, an inherited blood disorder that leads to life-limiting complications.

Boyd’s mother, DeAndria Powell, explains that Swift’s music helped her daughter deal with the difficult diagnosis.

“One of her songs, ‘Shake It Off,’ is one of the songs we use when a pain crisis hits,” she said. “We always try to shake things off before we take any medications. Let’s see if we can shake it off.”

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Another concert-goer will be 11-year-old Charyly Carty, who was diagnosed with Beals syndrome at the age of 2, as a result of which she developed severe early-onset scoliosis. She underwent spinal stabilization and plaster cast, corrective surgery and will require further surgeries in the future.

News of the concert brought joy to the young girl who wore pink, heart-shaped sunglasses. “I felt like I was going to cry because I was happy,” Carty, who plans to do just that hand out friendship bracelets other children present at the performance, he says.

According to a hospital spokesman, the tickets were donated by the Riley Children’s Foundation and Denney Excavating.

Swift will continue her Eras Tour at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday, November 2 and Sunday, November 3.