For many of us, summer is the season for concerts, and that was no exception for 19-year-old Ty Robertson of West Fargo, North Dakota. He’d been looking forward to taking a trip down to Tampa to visit his girlfriend, and bought tickets for the two of them to see one of his favorites, Chance The Rapper. Unfortunately, just a few weeks before the show, Tyler was diagnosed with a terminal form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma.
The concert was literally a week after his brain surgery, so he knew he wouldn’t be making the show – but he still wanted to pick up a bit of tour merch. While shopping online, he decided to reach out to Chance on Twitter and tell him his story.
“Hey @chancetherapper love your music. I even bought 2 floor tickets for your concert in Tampa. Well I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer on May 28th and treatment prevented me from going. So I’m pretty bummed about spending $400 and not even getting to see you. Anyway could you hook me up with some merch? I mean if not that’s cool. Keep up the good vibes man. You’re a great role model.”
To Ty’s surprise, his post was retweeted over 121,000 times and caught the eye of Chance himself. After hearing Ty’s story, he sent him a DM.
“Yo, sorry to hear you missed the concert. You seem to be in good spirits in all this, which is honorable and inspiring. Can’t imagine how you’re doing it, but I appreciate that about you man. Give me a mailing address I can send u some stuff.”
And two weeks later, Lil Chano came through. Ty received a box filled with tour merchandise, and he says Chance’s camp has reached out, and they’re working on getting him to an upcoming concert.
Doctors have given the teen a prognosis of only 5 to 10 years, but it’s not getting him down. “So much can happen in 5 to 10 years in the medical field. Everybody dies. I’ll live like I’ve been living anyway.”
