‘Shake It Off’: Kids With Cancer Use Taylor Swift’s Song As Inspiration

Unlike the Game of Thrones parody of the Taylor Swift song “Blank Space” as reported by Inquisitr, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia decided to do a lip-sync video to Swift’s song “Shake It Off” in support of National Child Life Month according to Yahoo.

Andrea McGinnis, who works at the hospital as a child life specialist, thought “Shake It Off” would be the perfect choice. She also pointed out that the children would continue to track the number of views for their video and how their spirits were impacted with each viewing.

“The kids here in our hospital are sick…Let’s have some fun, shake it off and forget about the hard stuff!”

CBS Phillly reports that the “Shake It Off” video provided a huge boost of cheer to its stars as they continued their fight against the various forms of pediatric cancer. Eleven-year-old Hannah Stetson who was in the video even though she had lost half her colon thinks the world of Taylor Swift as musician. Halim Smith, 15, chose to focus on the positive message in Taylor’s song as he awaited a liver transplant.

“Shake all the bad stuff off and think everything in a positive way, don’t think of everything as being bad.”

NBC Philadelphia also highlighted that Cincinnati Bengals player, Devon Still, and his daughter Leah are also in the “Shake It Off” video as well. Leah, who is battling neuroblastoma, had received treatment at the hospital and became a national story as part of the #LeahStrong movement on social media. Sales of her father’s Bengals jersey, which were in excess of $1 million, were donated to support Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center. The Patriots’ cheerleaders wore Still’s jersey during a Sunday Night Football game between the Bengals and Patriots that year to show their support.

The Swift lip-sync video is not the first one for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They also participated in another music video, “Truly Brave,” where patients joined Sara Bareilles and Cyndi Lauper back in September 2014 to raise awareness for children who are fighting against pediatric cancer, according to Today.

The video highlights all of the various activities the hospital does to treat the whole child to ensure that they can live as normal a life as possible. Taylor Swift is also a big supporter of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Taylor donated $50,000 last summer to create programs for teens who are battling cancer as well.

You can watch the kids perform their version of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.”

[Img Src: Screenshot from CHOP YouTube Video]