Music is being used for motivating patients to cope with treatment at many hospitals around the country as it provides emotional support for them and their families, and is an outlet for one’s feelings.

Feeling low and depressed

62-year-old Curtis Exum’s diagnosis was not good and he was admitted to the Oncology Unit at UConn John Dempsey Hospital. “I was really low and my sanity was in a bad place,” Exum said.

Medical assistant, Sammy Myers, knew Exum had to be motivated and when he knew that Exum was a guitarist and missed home and playing the guitar, he decided to do something about it. He remembered his daughter’s old guitar which was lying idle at home brought it along with an amplifier for Exum.

Act of kindness

“It was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Exum said, “This saved my sanity. It was just so nice. I’ve had to fight for everything I had my whole life and to have a stranger give me such a gift, it saved my sanity.”

After a ten-day stay, Exum had to leave the hospital and Myers came to his room to hear him play the guitar he gifted him, everyone had tears in their eyes when he played it. “I gave it from the heart, and I’m so glad he enjoys it, he deserves it,” said Myers. “Now he has something to look forward to when he goes home.”

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