Music is universal. All artists have a story to tell. Each has their own unique voice as they communicate to each other and the audience. When an artist has a passion for their art form, when they have an undeniable need to express themselves; then we become inspired too.
Meet Charity Tilleman-Dick, a young, bubbly, opera singer who opens up about her experience with Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension (PH). This is when basically the veins around your heart thicken and your heart enlarges and you die. Doctor’s said her singing was going to kill her. She said no way because, “I was not limited when I sang and as air came up from my lungs through my vocal cords and passed my lips as sound, it was the closest thing I had ever come to transcendence” (2011).
With a great team at John Hopkins Hospital they put her on Flolan; a medicine pumped through a catheter to her heart. Within days she felt better, and continued to perform despite the limitations. The audience was in her grip as she recalled, “The pump was a little problematic when performing, so I’d attach it to my inner thigh with the help of a girdle and an ace bandage” (2011).
Then her father dies in a freak car accident, so she had to fly to Colorado for his funeral even though the altitude was detrimental to her health. But she continued to perform. So whether from stress or grief; after a particular performance she collapsed in her apartment. It was then, as she literally laid dying, she realized she forgot to mix an important component of the medicine. She was terrified for her life as she quickly mixed it into the pump and laid on the bathroom floor waiting for the effects to take place, hoping to save her own life. She did.
But the story is not over. In order to survive she needed a lung transplant, so she waited for a match. Then she got the call. There was a set of lungs from Texas. Surgery now! No time for goodbyes.
At this point during Charity's speech, I nearly lost it because as a mother, I can't imagine not being able to see my daughter off before a surgery of this magnitude. But Charity was resilient and her last request for her doctors was to save her voice. Wow, what a kid! Any parent would be astounded at her determination to save what was most precious to her... her voice.
During the surgery in which she flatlined twice; her surgeons went around her vocal cords to save her ability to sing. Months of recovery followed and as Charity recalls to the audience, if it wasn't for the support of her mother, she would not be where she is today.
Before she concludes her speech, Charity proceeds to belt out the most beautiful operatic piece that captivates the audience and leaves us in tears. She reminds us “life is about living,” and we find that when doctors help patients pursue their passions, they become better patients; healthier and happier, reminding us, “We need to stop letting disease divorce us from our dreams” (2011).
Charity’s voice is loud and clear, an artist is only alive when they can pursue their art.
Talks/Ted Partner Series: Charity Tillemann-Dick: Singing After A Double Lung Transplant
http://www.ted.com/talks/charity_tilleman_dick_singing_after_a_double_lung_transplant.html
No comments:
Post a Comment