Country singer Thomas Rhett fulfills dream for Albion girl, 11, a cancer survivor

Photos provided by Jaime Allport: Thomas Rhett takes a selfie with Madison Muckle during Friday's soldout concert at Darien Lake.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 July 2019 at 1:02 pm

Madison Muckle shares stage with singer, and gets a selfie

Madison Muckle created a poster, hoping to get Thomas Rhett’s attention during Friday’s concert.

DARIEN – Madison Muckle, 11, of Albion had a mission when she went to a concert Friday night to see her favorite singer, Thomas Rhett. Madison wanted to get on stage with Rhett and have a selfie taken.

Madison created a poster to let Rhett know she had checked two out of three boxes of some life goals. First off, beat cancer. Check. Secondly, go to Thomas Rhett concert. Check.

Third goal: Selfie with Thomas. That one wasn’t checked before the concert.

Thomas Rhett saw the poster during Friday’s sellout concert at Six Flags Darien Lake. He brought Madison on stage, hugged her and took the selfie.

“Oh my gosh, hold on two seconds,” Rhett said when he took a close look at Madison with her poster. “Get up here. Come here. We’re gonna check all these off.”

Photos and a video of Madison on stage with Rhett have been shared by the famous singer on social media. He has 2.4 million followers on Twitter and 3.7 million followers on Instagram.

“She is my new favorite human being on the planet,” Rhett told the cheering crowd.

Madison on April 10 marked 6 years of being cancer free.

Madison was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when she was 3 years old. The family received the diagnosis on Dec. 27, 2010. She endured 2 ½ years of chemo and treatment, including nine blood transfusions.

She just finished fifth grade and is active in dance classes and plays point guard in basketball.

Her mother, Jaime Allport, said Madison has been a big fan of Rhett for more than a year. When she made the poster, Madison put the title of one of Rhett’s most popular songs on top: “Look What God Gave Her.”

Thomas Rhett stopped his show on Friday to bring Madison Muckle up on stage.

Allport said several people helped Madison’s dream come true on Friday. People at the concert cleared the way so she could get in the front pit, where Rhett was more likely to see her. A tall fan named Connor then put her on his shoulders. That’s when Rhett saw Madison, read the poster and insisted she join him on stage.

Thomas Rhett gives Madison a hug.

“Never in our wildest dreams did we think he would pull her up on stage,” Allport said today. “And he made such a big deal out of it.”

Rhett posted photos and message on his social media on Saturday, a day after the concert: “Madison, it was such a pleasure meeting you!” he posted. “May God continue to bless you and your sweet family??hope you had a great time at the show.”

Allport said the family is gearing up for the ninth annual Madisonation golf tournament on Aug. 25 at Hickory Ridge Golf Resort in Holley. The tournament started in honor of Madison. Her father, Kevin Muckle, organizes the annual event, which goes to organizations and families fighting cancer.

This year proceeds will go to the Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation, which was established in 2007 in memory of Michael C. Napoleone, the 8 year-old son of Mark and Laurie Napoleone from Batavia. He died from Burkitts Lymphoma/Leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer. The not-for-profit Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation was created to help people in need while fighting cancer and to support research efforts in finding a cure for childhood cancer.

Click here for more about the golf tournament.