Taylor Swift's quiet $100,000 donation to a toddler with cancer inspired fans to embody one of her newest lyrics: "We protect the family."

After learning about 2-year-old Lilah Smoot, who's battling stage 4 brain cancer, Swift made a donation to the family's GoFundMe.

Lilah's mother, Katelynn Smoot, has been sharing updates about her daughter's journey on Instagram since the toddler's diagnosis earlier this year, when a seizure at just 18 months old led doctors to discover a mass on her brain. Surgeons removed the tumor, but tests later revealed it was a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, one of only 58 documented cases in the U.S. last year.

"She will be admitted to the hospital and she will have 3 months of chemo and 3 months of stem cell treatment," the GoFundMe page said. "Help us lessen the burden on their expenses so they can focus on taking care of their baby girl, Lilah!"

Through it all, Smoot has chronicled moments of resilience and hope. "Kids really do fight cancer differently," she wrote Sept. 11. "They have such a strong spirit and they bounce back so quickly."

On Oct. 8, she shared a video of Lilah watching Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia" music video. In the clip, the sweet toddler smiled and said, "That's my friend."

Smoot later explained that Swift's music has been a comfort through treatment. "I listened to Taylor my whole pregnancy and then birthed a mini Swiftie," she said. "Lilah loves Taylor's music and during her cancer treatment she always found joy in it."

Nine days later, Swift donated to the family's GoFundMe. "Sending the biggest hug to my friend, Lilah! Love, Taylor," she wrote.

Within 48 hours, fans flooded the page with donations — many in symbolic $13 increments as a nod to the singer's favorite number — adding more than $200,000 and lifting the total to over $315,000.

Many donors in the comments wrote, "We protect the family," a lyric from Swift's new song "Father Figure."

Smoot posted an emotional thank you video Oct. 19 after watching the total climb past $300,000.

"You have taken this and ran with it, and I'm in shock,” she said. “It's not even just the money… it's the amount of people that I am reaching and bringing awareness to pediatric cancer and to ATRT and to something that is so deeply underfunded, and it makes me very emotional."

For now, Lilah continues her treatments surrounded by love from her family and a legion of Swifties.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Swifties rally for girl with cancer after Taylor Swift's donation, 'We protect the family'

Reporting by Bryan West, USA TODAY NETWORK / Nashville Tennessean

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