Two Taylor Swift tickets are being auctioned off in Ottawa to help fund a cure for a Stittsville boy with a rare disease.

Last year, seven-year-old Jack was diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia type four (SPG4), a condition which affects less than 0.01 per cent of the population.

“He has a mutation in one of his genes, the neurons in his brain and spinal cord are slowly degenerating and as they do he is slowly becoming paralyzed,” said his mother, Anna Laidlaw.

Although there is currently no treatment or cure, her parents, Anna and Richard Laidlaw, have been fundraising since March to help fund one.

“We were playing hockey and he asked me why his leg wasn’t working to do a turn he had to do for a drill,” Richard said. “So things are moving slowly.”

So far, they raised $81,000with help from the community and many other fundraisers throughout the year.

In total, around $300,000 was raised, with the help of two other foundations in the United States, to support the search for a cure.

“It’s really special to know that we can contribute to this cure and to know that all of these fundraising efforts are going toward this gene therapy that our son needs,” Anna said.

“We will know in December the progress of their research.”

Now, two tickets are up for auction to see Taylor Swift “shake it” on stage on November 14 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.

They are the daughters of a family friend who give up seeing their idol perform in concert, in the hope of one day finding a cure.

“We are very grateful to them and their family for their help,” Anna said.

“We’ve been listening to Taylor Swift a lot, there’s a lot of enthusiasm,” Richard said.

Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium as part of her Eras Tour, Friday June 21, 2024 in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, file)

In total, the family is working to raise $3 million, which would help move the research toward human clinical trials. This money would help a team in the United States treat and potentially cure the disease using gene therapy.

“We were so lucky that there were so many people asking us, ‘How can I help you?’ “, Anna said.

Although there is a sense of urgency as the disease progresses, the family says they are taking it one day and one fundraiser at a time.

“We need Ryan Reynolds, we need Georges St-Pierre to post and help us, it’s just one little Tweet that will go as far as helping us get that $3 million,” Richard said.

“Then locally we need the big construction companies, the Ottawa Senators, all these big sports teams to really come on board and help us.”

Taylor Swift Ticket Auction ends November 9 and an anonymous donor will match the winning bid with up to $50,000.

Another fundraiser is planned for Sunday, November 3, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., at the Stittsville Legion for a Taekwondo demonstration and lesson.

Places can be reserved at [email protected]. Tickets are $20 for an adult, $10 for a child and $50 for a family of four.