PHOENIX — Baylee Barradas keeps track of all the concerts she's been to by the number of t-shirts she has.
Last Thursday, she wore one bearing country music superstar Dierks Bentley's name, as just a small piece of evidence she's a fan.
She says she isn't sure how many times she's seen Bentley, a Valley native, in concert, but this latest time hearing Bentley sing in-person came with special seats and no tickets necessary.
“It was just an incredible experience,” Barradas said.
Bentley stopped by Barradas’ home on Thursday to give her a private concert in her living room.
“Just a sweet girl going through a really hard time,” Bentley said.
Barradas is currently battling sarcoma, a type of cancer. She said a tumor was found in her leg in December 2020.
At that time the tumor was the size of a softball, and it’s since grown to about the size of a football, Barradas said.
“It’s been hard. It's been really, really tough because it’s spread to my lungs and I had nodules in my lungs and they confirmed that they are cancerous,” Barradas said.
Her family said she’s had neurofibromatosis 1 for her whole life.
Barradas has had other symptoms of the incurable genetic disorder over her life, including cafe au lait spots, scoliosis and learning disabilities.
However, tumors that are cancerous, like what Barradas is experiencing now, only impact 3% to 5% of people, according to Mayo Clinic.
“If I didn’t have NF then I would most likely not end up having cancer,” Barradas said.
Bentley said he heard about Barradas’ story through a friend in the Valley.
That friend was a friend-of-a-friend to Barradas’ father.
“I said, ‘Hey, grab one of those guitars you have in your house and let’s see if we can go to the house and just surprise her,” Bentley said.
Barradas said she heard all her favorites from Bentley. Bentley also got country music star Kelsea Ballerini on FaceTime as well.
But Barradas said above all, the time they spent gave her an opportunity to escape from the fight she’s been living in daily for six months.
“The whole time through him playing I had no jolts in my leg, which is when my leg shakes,” Barradas said. “I had no pain, I was just very relaxed.”
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