'It was perfect — an unbelievable day'

By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

It’s a love story — and Ana Stone said “yes.”

Stone, a 23-year-old double graduate from the College of Health Sciences (Medical Laboratory Science and Physician Assistant Studies) had no idea that when she attended one of Taylor Swift’s Cincinnati concerts this weekend, her boyfriend of a year would use the opportunity to propose to her — right in the middle of Swift’s iconic song, “Love Story.”

Video of Stone and her boyfriend, Tyler Brown, has since gone viral, as fans cannot get enough of the moment. 

“It’s made an unbelievable day even more special,” she said, noting how at least three television stations and three other social media platforms have interviewed them and shared the video, which has been viewed more than six million times with more than 900,000 likes. 

Even the music website Billboard.com shared the video.
 

“I had no clue it was going to happen,” Stone said. “I had actually already seen (Taylor) once on this tour from the nosebleed seats in Nashville. This was a little different.”

Stone said her boyfriend bought expensive floor seats on the resell market for the Cincinnati show. She wondered why, especially since he really isn’t a fan. “He’s more of a Nickelback kind of guy,” she said, referring to the Canadian rock group.

But, on Friday, there were Stone and Brown, who had sneakily given the heads-up to most of the fans seated around them. Many of those strangers knew what was coming, and had their camera-phones ready. When Swift sang her “Love Story,” she finally got to these lyrics at the end:

“He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring
And said, ‘Marry me, Juliet,
You'll never have to be alone …’”

As more than 60,000 fans around them sang along, Brown turned around and got down on his own knee, and popped the question.

“She said ‘Yes,’ thank gosh,” he said.

And a large group sitting around them — including some concert security — cheered.

“It was perfect — he couldn’t have done any better,” Stone said.

Countless fans caught the moment on video and in pictures. “Everyone was just so nice and excited,” she said. Then the moment was posted on social media, which led to the interviews and even more attention. The overwhelming majority of comments are positive, she said.

“The only criticism I’ve gotten online is that I might’ve said yes too quickly — like I wanted to get back to watching the show and Taylor,” she said, laughing. 

Was the criticism warranted?

“Honestly, yeah,” she laughed again.

The night, she said, will always be unforgettable. Now, the notoriety begins.

But doing interviews and taking on celebrity has kind of become habit now for the 2022 graduate, who came into the PA program pretty young — at age 19.

As such, this is not the first time she’s been featured on the CHS website.

“CHS prepared me for this,” she said. “I’ve always been interviewed and featured in stories. I’m just a country girl, but all this has been pretty natural for me to handle. I’m comfortable in the spotlight.”

Stone, a native of Hazard, Ky., also credits CHS by preparing her to get a job with the geographic and financial flexibility to allow her to see Swift twice this summer. She now lives in Richmond and works as a PA for Urgent Care Centers of KY, but her job takes her all over central Kentucky. 

“I wanted to stay home and take care of my region and make a difference here,” Stone said. “CHS is allowing me to do that.”

The only thing that could make the whole situation even better, she said, is if Taylor Swift could acknowledge the couple on social media. 

“It’s crazy, I am the biggest Taylor fan,” she said. “This has already been the best proposal I could ever imagine. If we somehow got on her radar, that would just be the icing on the cake. But as it is, it’s just been perfect.”