Your song has inspired me to live a happy, healthy life. Your song has helped put words to the emotions I could never quantify. You helped me in more ways than you will ever know. To Rachel Platten, thank you.

I am constantly faced with new challenges, yet your song takes me away from those challenges even if it's only for 3 minutes and 24 seconds. This year I fell ill with a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. What this means is that the glue that's supposed to hold my body together (collagen) did not form correctly causing chronic dislocations. Every day I wake up to a new challenge whether that is a head shifting on my spine, a trachea out of place, or simply a sprained ankle. I know that despite all of this I can turn on your song and feel the will to fight.

Regardless of what challenge others may have you have helped so many by simply expressing your thoughts through song. I know that those of us with illnesses whether mental or chronic have found so much relief in your music this last year. Those of us with these illnesses constantly put on facades. We tell others that we are ok when we are screaming for relief, and we often never find that relief. Beneath the smiling girl with a positive attitude there is a girl grieving. She grieves the loss of her past life, she grieves what could have been, and she grieves the loss of control over her body. She can always find relief in music and writing though. Your music brings strength to her and often gives her the strength that pain medication cannot, and for that she will be eternally grateful.

You should also know that your song is constantly a topic of conversation throughout the world of invisible illnesses. There are hundreds of thousands of people experiencing the same relief as that girl. You need to realize just how many lives you have helped by simply writing down words and recording them. You capture what it is like for no one else to believe you, you capture the feeling of hopelessness, and you capture the strength that comes with pushing past challenges. Without your song, so many of us would be lost.

There are not words to express how thankful myself and so many others are for your song, but for now all I can say is that you are amazing. You came forward about your challenges and helped others, and you will always be a role model to me for that reason. When I became sick I decided to advocate rather than ignore my illness, and you did the exact same thing through fight song. Thank you Rachel Platten for staying strong and writing about your experiences rather than staying quiet. Simply by speaking out you have changed me for the better, and you deserve to know just how many lives you have changed. Please keep writing because you not only are helping yourself, but the lives of so many.

-Kaitlyn Brennan, a chronically ill teenager forever changed by your music