Carly is going to all seven of Taylor Swift's Australian shows for less than $3000 - here's how

Sydney local Carly Heading, 34, and Taylor Swift go way back (to 2018, if you want to get specific).

So when news broke that the Eras Tour was coming to Australia, Heading knew she had to be at all seven shows – no matter the cost to her wallet or health.

"I have so many physical, chronic conditions I'm scared I'm gonna end up in hospital, but I don't care. Literally, I will take any risks," she tells 9honey. 

Miraculously, Heading and her friends got tickets to every single show by doing things the old-fashioned way.

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"Because we're OG Swifties we knew to go to the Ticketek booths, so I went to Penrith and my friend went to the Melbourne ones," Heading says.

"We could get [tickets for] multiple shows, as long as you didn't get more than four for each night."

The only show they missed out on was the first night in Melbourne, so Heading turned to the official Ticketek resale site to avoid scammers.

She scoured Ticketek Marketplace for weeks until one appeared, which she quickly snapped up.

Finally she had tickets to all seven Aussie Eras shows and it had only cost her $3000, averaging out to about $428.50 per ticket. 

It's a bargain when you consider some fans paid almost $1250 for just one VIP ticket.

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View gallery

Stars spotted at Taylor Swift's Australian Eras Tour shows

Heading even managed to score free flights and accommodation for the Melbourne shows by using flight credits she'd saved and staying with a friend. She didn't pay a cent.

But actually getting to the shows and making it through the three-hour setlist was another story.

For years Heading has struggled with chronic illnesses including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, Hashimotos disease, endometriosis and complex PTSD, which can cause seizures.

In the last five years alone, she's spent over 300 days in hospital. 

"Taylor's the reason I'm still here," she says.

"I was terrified to fly to Melbourne, I didn't know if my body would handle the flight. But I was like, 'You know what? I'm just doing it.'"

Heading's health issues and frequent hospitalisations are a huge drain on her mental health, but she's always found comfort in Swift's music.

The lyrics to This Is Me Trying hit especially close to home, so Heading put out a social media call for Swift to play it in Australia as a 'secret song'.

And Swift did.

"I don't know if she saw my post, or if it was fate, but she played it. It felt like it was just to remind me to keep going," Heading says through tears. 

It felt like a moment Swift had orchestrated just for her, which could be true.

WATCH: Taylor Swift performs This Is Me Trying in Melbourne

In 2018, Heading was gearing up for one of Swift's Reputation shows in Nashville, USA when she got an email. It was from Taylor's team.

"Taylor said that you were here," it read. "She wants to meet you."

Swift had been following Heading online and invited her backstage, where she asked after Heading's health before posing for a photo the Aussie still treasurers.

In the snap, Swift leans on Heading, who had always leaned on Swift's music for support.

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"It was healing in a way that I can't really explain. There have been points where I actually didn't know if I was going to make it … and it just kept me hanging on," Heading says.

"Taylor's the reason I came forward about a sexual assault. She's the reason I stood up for myself. She's the reason I keep fighting."

She fought through five years of hospital dashes and health scares to make it to every one of Swift's Melbourne shows last weekend and will do the same again in Sydney this weekend.

Attending so many concerts is taking a toll on her health but Heading won't stop.

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Best Aussie fan photos from Taylor Swift's Eras Tour

"I ended up having a trauma seizure in the middle of the show on Sunday. It's my body's way of shutting down if I'm in too much pain, so I missed four or five songs," she says.

"I threw up every morning before the shows because I'm in so much pain, but it's worth it."

Sadly, she's received hate from fans who missed out on getting any tickets while she nabbed seven.

They call her "greedy", but Heading says the frustration is misdirected.

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"The hate needs to be directed at the scalpers," she says.

"I've been going to multiple shows since the Red Tour. For 1989, I went to five shows and it was never an issue. I went to six for Reputation.

"I get that the demand is higher, but OG fans shouldn't have to stop what they've done for years because of scammers. That's not fair. That's not our fault."

More than four million people queued for the first batch of Eras Tour tickets, over 280,000 fans flocked to see her in Melbourne and even more will turn out this weekend in Sydney.

Swift's tour has become a massive cultural moment and Heading is grateful to be a part of it.

"It reminds me of the Matildas, when everyone was in the jerseys," she says.

"Now we're all screaming the words, we're standing up for what we believe in, and we're allowed to be loud about it."

Many of Heading’s chronic illnesses are hidden, so she relies on the Hidden Disability Sunflower to access support. Learn more here.